(6)
Ludo pointed over to him and shouted to Joha over the explosions in the background, "Let's regroup on the Zealot!"
Joha nodded and they both jogged after him while Fliz and Xepo sped ahead in their Ghosts to join the Arbiter and Rtas 'Vadumee, who had by now cleared out the immediate threat and were further ahead. Ludo got into the Ghost that he'd taken down and offered Joha a ride on the hood.
When the noble Sangheili squinted at him warily, Ludo said, "It's faster. Trust me, I've done it."
Being literally the last ones left, Joha saw no other choice and climbed up onto the hood, crouched and balancing as the Ghost began to pick up speed.
"Prepare to jump, Elite!" Ludo yelled as they neared the Zealot. "Now!"
Joha dove forward off the right wing of the Ghost as Ludo passed the Elites. Ludo craned his head back and saw him perform a roll a few feet from the Zealot, then faced forward again, boosting to catch up with the others in the open plain where he and the Shipmaster first saw the Scarab docked. He finally caught up a moment later and got into wedge formation with Fliz and Xepo a moment later, arriving just as Rtas launched another energy mortar and shellacked a highjacked Phantom troop carrier that was firing at them.
Ludo spotted two more enemy Wraiths, loosing their own plasma mortars as fast as their firing mechanisms allowed and blocking the entrance to a structure similar to the one the Arbiter had noticed looming in the distance before the battle. Once the Phantom backed off and flew to safety, Ludo saw that the Unggoy Major was no longer manning the wraith turret, and the Spectre was nowhere in sight. The Sangheili Ultra was missing in action as well.
"Ludo," Rtas summoned over the comms. His Wraith was maybe thirty meters to their right, directly under the Scarab.
"The Arbiter is making his way up the right side of their holdout. Take your Ghosts over to the left side of those rock formations, and force those clumsy beasts out of their den."
"You heard him," Ludo said to Fliz and Xepo. "Let us make quick work of these Brutes."
Zipping and dodging Wraith shots, the trio zoomed towards the gap in the boulders and infiltrated the holdout in a few quick laps through and around their cover while the Arbiter dealt with each of the Wraiths by hand.
"You are an inspiration to us all, Arbiter!" Xepo declared after the second tank was destroyed.
The battlefield clear, everyone who survived formed up on the Arbiter, who was standing next to the Wraith.
"The Brutes control that cruiser, Arbiter. On your way. Ludo, you and Joha go with him. Zuvo," Rtas said, directing his attention on the Zealot. "You and your Elites remain here and defend the entrance. Xepo, Fliz, follow close behind me. We are going to take the cruiser back!