You do realise that is sergeant johnson? One of the main characters of the trilogy besides the chief? He appears on numerous missions in both Halo 1/2 and 3. Ohw and by saying it's "classified", bungie means it's classified. However there was an explanation in the book Halo: first strike, but I don't quite remember what it was. You should read it if you want the details :)

Original: the Stealth Elite was an Elite conflicted about the war, carrying a Forerunner artifact which the Prophets had commissioned him to retrieve that could bring a decisive victory to the war. But for now, he just wanted to get off the Installation and felt the Prophets had abandoned him. Alas, he was in a feral state, that is until Johnson showed him affection. He felt comforted and saw Johnson as the answer to the war so he betrayed the Covenant and slipped it into his back pocket and bang, Johnson was in the Longsword. The object was destroyed when he sat down next to Chief but it's capability permeated in Johnson, which is why he often vanishes without a trace in Halo 2 and seems to be everywhere in Halo 3. Anniversary: the Zealot became a half Flood while he was still alive so he had a shield recharge rate of 9000 (this is just speculation). Johnson killed the Elite when they embraced and utilized his shielded body to avoid the explosion. He could breathe in space because all humans can breathe in space (this is verified when you push Johnson and Keyes outside of Cairo Station). jk jk jk jk [Edited on 11.05.2012 9:22 PM PST]

does bungie every explain what? give it a day or two. quit. stop. discontinue.

Woohoo Yeehoo Woohoo Yeehoo Woohoo Yeehoo If I could escape I would but first of all let me say I must apologize for acting, stinking, treating you this way Cause i've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor It's your fault you didn't shut the refridgerator Maybe that's the reason i've been acting so cold If I could escape And recreate a place as my own world And I could be your favorite girl Forever, perfectly together Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet? If I could be sweet I know i've been a real bad girl I didn't mean for you to get hurt Forever, we can make it better Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

No actual awnsers yet? Well in the books Cortana says that what she thought was an echo was not an echo, because it got louder. They discover this pelican on some asteroid/moon not crashed but seemingly parked. They dock and stuff and Sgt. Dude and some other people were there. Chips Dubbo and some 2nd guy also made it off of Halo in an as-of-yet unspecified way.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] tjal You do realise that is sergeant johnson? One of the main characters of the trilogy besides the chief? He appears on numerous missions in both Halo 1/2 and 3. Ohw and by saying it's "classified", bungie means it's classified. However there was an explanation in the book Halo: first strike, but I don't quite remember what it was. You should read it if you want the details :)[/quote]

Here could be one theory: remember on the Maw when Cortana tells you there's only one Longsword left? That's because Johnson already escaped in another one.