<br/>Gladiator's heart was starting to race with worry, with how bad his hands were shaking now, due to the stress that was increasing of not being able to sight a weapon properly. He'd checked the Elite driver and the Grunt gunner again, making sure that they didn't know about his presence. They didn't, they just continued with their maintenance. He began to get frustrated with his current condition. He was too weak from exhaustion to stand, and too nerve wracked from his latest near death experience to fight. He was pinned, exposed and very, very vulnerable, worst of all, he knew it. He could see the end of his life play out before his eyes, the Elite stepping around the corner simply checking the perimeter, seeing the helpless Spartan, and reacting in surprise. Himself futilely trying to shoot the Elite before it brought it's weapon to bare, then the hot fiery sting of plasma fire that would end his life against this god forsaken all terrain jeep, the alien's cruel four pronged grin as the life faded from his body. His fists clenched, he couldn't go out that way, not after all he'd done to try and protect Humanity from extinction. Suddenly a red laser sight beam caught his attention as it moved up his leg and to his chest, breaking him from his imaginary endings. Gladiator jerked to the side on instinct, or started to, but, stopped himself as the laser sight suddenly dipped to the road and stayed there for a second.<br/><br/>The relief that he felt was obvious and visible as his shoulders slumped and his head rocked forward. He raised his hand, gave the air a thumbs up, indicating that he understood, before saluting a thank you to his savior, and then using the remainder of his strength to throw himself to the ground as he spotted two puffs of smoke from a building over by the wharf. He made himself crawl a few meters but, then just laid flat on the ground as the two MK-5 Rockets passed by overhead and detonated against the Wraith Tank. He could hear the aliens cry out in surprise a split second before each one died, one squealing in terror while the other raged at it's failure. He could hear the sounds of battle from up ahead, apparently the Covenant had sent reinforcements to help keep the bridge. Looking up, he saw a lone Spartan jog up the road a few minutes later. He'd never been so grateful to see another Spartan. As the Spartan got closer, he saw that it was a woman underneath the armor, probably a Mark II like himself.<br/><br/>He immediately recognized the CQC helmet, Mark 5 Recon Chassis and Para Knee guards that she wore, all of which were colored in Tan and Black. He was probably never going to live this down but, he couldn't have cared less at the moment. He was just grateful to have backup. She dropped her field pack and started to load fresh magazines into her pouches. A moment later, she casually motioned him over. He was momentarily confused as to why she wasn't speaking through the comms when he realized that his own must have been knocked out during the crash. Sitting up took some effort but, he managed it, and crawled over to her obediently. Taking his helmet off for a moment, he grimaced against the day's sunlight and for once took notice of the dried blood on his face as he looked at his helmet's visor examining it closer. Sure enough, right where the comm relay was supposed to be housed, a big gash had been sliced right through it, and then smashed open due to the compression by the HR/RS. Looking to the new arrival, he gave a weary smile and said "Thanks for that, you saved my life. I'm Gladiator, Sierra zero one six one, you arrived just in time Spartan. Got any more friendlies with you?"