The Elite swerved the Mongoose, sending MacMillan’s vehicle off to the right and away from the cliff. The Arbiter did not follow, however, he leapt clean out of the Mongoose, launching himself six feet onto the side of the Chopper, swinging his massive hoof around to smash the Chief clean off of his Chopper and down the cliff, smashing into the sandy-rock and ceasing to move in any meaningful way. The Arbiter brought the Chopper around and down to the side of the cliff. MacMillan, after taking the Mongoose’s driving seat, drove his vehicle down the opposite side of the cliff slowly to where the Chief lay. Both pulled up beside the Chief, who lay on the ground, propped up on one elbow. “Though my mental functions degrade, you'll not defeat me!” the Chief began to rave. “My strength is not in intellect and will, but is in steel and fire! You hear me, MacMillan?! The Master Chief offers you nothing but ashes!” MacMillan ignored the rant, and instead began to interrogate his subject. “Oi, lad, I’ve got you figured out. But there’s just one thing that bugs me, Big Bird. Why did you let us kill all your friends and comrades?” The Chief coughed several times before he answered. “Because they were in the way, too, just like you are…” MacMillan nodded. He realized it now: he and Big Bird/Master Chief were no different. They all sought eternal glory and honor. The Chief was not a hero who fought for humanity, he was just another wannabe that MacMillan had to take out. Suddenly, things were just as simple as the day he had set out on his quest. As MacMillan’s eyes scanned the area, ready for the end of his quest to destroy Halo. And something caught his attention: an enormous vehicle, with a crane, walls and ramps all about it, some three hundred yards away. “Arbiter, wait here, I know how we’re going to finish this,” he said as he marched towards it. The Arbiter nodded and watched the Chief splutter random non-sense. But suddenly, his head jerked up, and he saw the Sea Knight coming towards them. MacMillan saw it while he walked towards the vehicle, too. “Oi, Suzy…” he hissed through gritted teeth as he watched the helicopter lose altitude rapidly, coming right towards him. MacMillan sprinted towards the large vehicle now, trying to get out of the way of the helicopter as it came tearing down into the sand. Right before it, hit, he caught sight of Suzy’s horrified face at the controls. The helicopter slammed into the turf where MacMillan once stood, its blades slowing quickly as they chopped up the sand fruitlessly. MacMillan would normally have gone to help her out of her predicament, but wasn’t feeling particularly charitable at the moment, and instead allowed the Arbiter to take the Captain’s normal role as her caretaker. The Arbiter watched and, seeing MacMillan wasn’t going to help, marched towards the helicopter, feeling sure enough that the Chief wasn’t going anywhere. He heard the wailing, overdramatic screams from inside the cockpit, knowing that Suzy likely wasn’t in any danger or pain. As he walked up to the shattered front windows, he looked inside at the now-prostrate Suzy, who had apparently passed out. While mumbling, he bent the metal bars aside to create a hole large enough to haul her out, then removed her. “Oh, Arby, you saved me!” Suzy said as she just “happened” to wake up. The Arbiter quickly dropped her into the soft sand. “Stay out of the way of the vehicle, human, the Captain is in it, and our quest is nearly completed,” he said coldly, marching back towards the Chief. “Hey! I’m hurt! You need to carry me! >:(” she shouted angrily. Upon seeing he wasn’t coming back, she got to her feet and joined him by the Chief. MacMillan drove the Elephant around the wreckage of the helicopter slowly, moving slowly towards the Chief. MacMillan was lining up the treads with his enemy slowly and surely. The Arbiter took up a position on one side of the Chief, while a very angry Suzy took the other. MacMillan’s Elephant rolled slowly, oh [I]so[/I] slowly, towards where the incapacitated Chief lay in the sand. The Arbiter stood six feet from the Chief, arms crossed, face tight. “You… Arbiter… he’s going to turn on you and kill you, too… You’ll steal his fame,” the now-sobering Chief pleaded with the Elite for aid. “You do not understand, Demon. The Captain and I have come to an understanding. His respect for me, earned by fighting both each other and our mutual foes, has led him to believe that my glory is both acceptable and desirable. No plea a dying traitor can make will change that.” The Chief turned slowly towards Suzy, who stood, dejectedly, on the other side of the Elephant’s path. Her teary stare at the Arbiter bore into him, but he ignored it icily. The Chief turned to Suzy to beg her. “You’ve got to stop them… the Covenant will destroy humanity if you don’t! Suzy! Please!” Suzy ignored him, until he said something that struck a chord. “Suzy… [I]he[/I] betrayed you.” Suzy fixed her gaze on the Arbiter, who returned it only temporarily. “You’re right,” she said, too softly for anyone to hear over the roar of the Elephant’s engines. But the Chief sensed it, even as the Elephant closed to within six feet of his legs. “Suzy. I need a weapon,” he said, his hand reaching out towards her. After a moment’s hesitation, Suzy did something she wouldn’t have thought herself capable of: she whipped an M6D out of her belt and hurled it to the Chief. The Arbiter didn’t have time to react: the Chief shot him almost instantly. As his body hit the ground, the faint, anguished roar of “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” coming from both MacMillan, who saw the Arbiter hit the sand, and the Chief, who was crushed under the Elephant’s treads. “SUZZZZZZZZZZY!!!!!” MacMillan screamed as he tore out of the Elephant’s cockpit, leapt off of the top and descended on the Arbiter’s body, which lay mutely in the sand. “Arbiter! Can you hear me, lad!?” MacMillan shouted as he took the Elite’s head in his hands and shook. The alien didn’t respond. He was dead and already going cold. MacMillan did nothing for a couple of moments, staring at his friend’s corpse, trying to think of some way to honor the fallen hero. It only occurred to him after several minutes that Suzy was gone, as was the Mongoose. He saw the tracks going off into the north, away from the structure and this scene of death. For once, MacMillan had no master plan. His mind’s incredible gears churned not. For MacMillan needed no thought nor logic: He knew what he had to do.