Suddenly, a figure dropped down, and crashed into the bumper of the vehicle, which crumpled slightly. The Flood form screamed at them, mashing tendrils against the cracked windscreen. John drew out a pistol, preparing to shoot the Flood form off the Warthog. But before he could, the wall chose to intervene. The force exerted by the Flood form when it had dropped onto the Warthog had, ironically, saved their lives by pushing them down slightly. The vehicle missed the wall, but the Flood form wasn't so lucky. It passed through the large doorway missing a head, and the dead corpse simply rolled onto the floor. The LRV dropped out of the air and hit the floor again, flying out into an exterior not unlike the Pillar of Autumn's. A huge oxygen barrier encompassed the ship, keeping a steady supply of the precious gas inside it. John wrestled with the fighting wheel, and finally regained control, swerving just in time to avoid a looming pillar. "Three minutes Chief," Cortana warned anxiously, and John nodded silently. He stamped on the accelerator, and the Warthog shot through a narrow tunnel ahead, losing no speed as it crashed into several unsuspecting Flood forms. Concave gratings shook the LRV as it flew across the familiar UNSC floor, shaking John's already unsteady hands. "Two minutes," Cortana told him even more worriedly. John was perspiring profusely now, and at that moment in time he was the vehicle. Pillars were avoided, Flood forms were deftly destroyed, ramps were gracefully leapt over. And then, finally, the end was in sight. John could see the hangar up ahead. Relief coursed through his aching body, and he began to break as the Warthog approached the area. It drifted into the open hangar dripping with Flood biomass, and ground to a halt before the tarnished Longsword fighter, ramp down, inviting him inside it. "Move!" John commanded sharply, unstrapping the belt securing him in the Warthog. He paused long enough to pick up the still lifeless form of Mendicant Bias, and leapt out, along with Thel and the Arbiter. Immediately Flood soldiers in the area reacted to their arrival; plasma bolts stuttered across their heads and bullets whizzed past. John felt a few impact him in the sides, and hoped his weakened shields would hold up. The trio rushed inside the Longsword, and John immediately rushed to the narrow cockpit. Johnson hit a button and the ramp slid shut, preventing the frustrated and now idiotic Flood forms from gaining access. Valuable seconds were eaten as John climbed into the pilot's seat, started up the engines and transferred Cortana to the board. A small holographic representation of her popped up, showing her stressed face. "Hang on!" she shouted, and the Longsword lifted up into the air, billowing Flood biological mass across the outside hangar. John instinctively reeled back as several Flood infection forms smashed into the nearly unbreakable windows of the airtight fighter, vainly attempting to gain access. The Longsword rotated, giving John that uncomfortable feeling in his gut. With a roar, the fighter shot forward, exiting the oxygen barrier separating the hangar and slipspace. The Longsword's engines were quickly cut off as it pulled away from the Gravemind's ship, now sailing blindly towards its doom. "And. . . now," Cortana timed, watching the ship as it winked out from the slipspace tunnel, disappearing into the system where the black hole resided. Sparks crackled from where it had exited for a few moments, before vanishing. Finally, it was all over. John exhaled deeply, and took off his helmet with relief, before crashing into the back of his chair happily, pure adrenaline raging through his body still. "We did it," he laughed, groaning as the adrenaline wore off and left aches and pains previously ignored behind. "Thank the ancients," Thel chuckled from somewhere behind him. Johnson merely grunted, unable to form words in his tired state. Cortana watched them all with a raised eyebrow, before smiling. "Well done," she congratulated warmly. "The Gravemind's dead, and the Flood are in chaos. It's all over. We'll head back to Sangheilios now, ETA in two hours. Why don't you boys get some sleep? You all look like you need it." John shook his head wearily, intending to stay awake and speak with Cortana awhile, and perhaps discuss the mind-blowing revelations the Gravemind had told him. Eventually though exhaustion overcame him, and he found himself drifting into a sleep that was, for the first time since the horrific discovery on the first Halo ring, devoid of nightmares about the Flood. [Edited on 08.21.2010 10:45 AM PDT]