Gladiator looked up as Patric spotted a 'hog and made his way over to it as he called the gunner's seat. The blue and gold armored Spartan jogged up to the driver's seat, momentarily taking note of the torn emasculated body that was hanging off the back. Going over to it, he gently lifted it off the Warthog and set it on the pavement. There was no head, no shoulders, just a mound of torn meat that started where the ribs should have been. He waited a split second out of respect for a fallen soldier, then moved over to the driver's seat again and slid in. Turning the key that was fortunately still in the ignition, the beast roared to life. Activating his comm he said "Hang on back there, you're in for one hell of a ride!" stomping on the gas pedal, the 'hog leaped into action, peeling rubber as the two Spartans roared towards Jacob's last known position.<br/><br/>"First things first though, we're gonna take care of those snipers pinning Jacobs and his team, then we go pick up Fry" Gladiator called back to his gunner as he turned the steering wheel and drifted around a corner.<br/><br/>Switching his comm again he contacted Jacobs "Sergeant Jacobs, this is Sierra oh one six one with Sierra three three four, we're in a Warthog and headed your way. We'll take care of those snipers for you. After that's done, book it to Shana's position and wait for a mission update. We'll be back after we pick up some reinforcements. Over."<br/><br/>A second later Jacob's voice came over the comm<em>"Glad to hear it Sierra oh one six one. I appreciate the help. Over and out."</em><br/><br/>Another two blocks and they were closing on Jacob's position, the sounds of the gun fight could be heard from half a block away but, the carnage and the multicolored plasma shots from Covenant energy weapons were noticeable from a much longer distance. Gladiator hit the zoom on his HUD and spotted the Jackal Sniper's positions almost immediately as he tracked their unique silvery purple fire, he layed out their positions as NAV points on his HUD, and then relayed them to Partic. He turned the car left and right, avoiding the deadly sniper fire that was now being directed at them. He heard Patric open up with the Warthog's Gauss turret, and the concussions as the high impact rounds detonated on their targets, amidst the<em>plinking</em>sounds made by successful sniper hits on the vehicle's armor plating. As Gladiator focused on driving, he noted that the path ahead was littered with vehicular debris, some was Covenant but, most had once belonged to the UNSC. A big flat piece of road had been blasted from it's home, and now sat resting at an angle against a pile of crushed and still burning civilian cars. Gladiator instantly recognized the pattern of debris ahead, the holes dotting the road, and what had made them. A Scarab had been through here at some point. Probably from when New York was first invaded. Seeing no other alternative other than breaking hard and hoping he had enough room to drift so he could turn around, Gladiator made for the piece of large debris, aiming to use it as a ramp. Patric was still firing the Gauss turret but, the amount of Sniper fire coming their way had lessened quite a bit.<br/><br/>As the front wheels caught on the surface of the road debris, the Warthog jounced upwards before all four tires caught the pavement, gripping it like velcro. A second later the Warthog and the two Spartans inside were air born and flying over the decimated cars. Gladiator smiled as Patric gave a small whoop of excitement. The landing was harder than he would've liked, and he had to do some serious steering to keep the beast level but, it did so under his skillful hands. Coming up on the end of the block Gladiator looked back and told Patric to hang on as he drifted around the corner. A few minutes after that, he drifted around another corner and they were going back the way they came, and heading towards Private Fry's position.<br/><br/>About ten minutes went by before they crossed more Covenant but, it had just been a rag tag group of a couple of Jackals, three Grunts and an Elite. Gladiator didn't even slow down, and passed them as they blurred by. He was hustling it down the main road, dodging debris, rolled over cars, burning cars, smashed cars as he simply rolled over the bodies that littered the ground, grimacing with each bump. Fifteen minutes after that, they ran into a group of four Hunters that were guarding the path that led to the bridge. Fortunately there was enough space to race between them. The Hunters raised their weapons charging and their massive shield arms went into defensive postures but, by the time they had fired they had either hit air, or each other as some tried to track the vehicle, hoping for a lucky shot. Gladiator turned to look back, and laughed as he saw two of the massive eel like aliens blast each other in their 'faces', only to be thrown back and toppled over by the force of their own weapons. Five minutes after that they attracted the attention of four Banshee flyers, two of which ended up pasting themselves on the entrance to a tunnel that Gladiator had ducked into, as they tried to make it at the same time to chase the speeding Warthog. Two though survived as was evidenced by their green glowing missiles that impacted on either side of the armored vehicle.<br/><br/>Gladiator whooped at the sight of the four laned bridge, now only a few miles away, how many he couldn't be certain but, the fact that he could see it on the horizon amidst the towering canyons of tritanium steel he took as a good sign. White plasma fire from the still trailing Banshees splattered against the windshield and burned holed through the material. The blue and gold Spartan reflexively raised an arm to protect his head as he called back to his passenger to see if he was alright. Eventually the hail of plasma fire vanished, answering his query.<br/><br/>The rest of the half hour that it took to get to the bridge was relatively uneventful, atleast to Gladiator, who's sole focus was on driving the hog. Not thirty feet onto the bridge though, they caught the attention of some more Banshee flyers, how many he couldn't be sure, as he was focused on dodging debris in the road, once his path was relatively clear, he looked back and saw that there were three Banshees on their tail. Two of which unleashed two missiles. Dodging left, he felt the 'hog jostle as the missiles impacted to the right of them. Looking back again, he jinked the jeep back over to the right, dodging another set of missiles.<br/><br/>They were almost across the bridge when two Banshees came from ahead of them, dipping down low and firing their missiles before barrel rolling nimbly away as the hog bared down on them. He dodged one set successfully but, the second pair hit the hog on the front left tire, blowing it out and sending the Warthog's nose to the pavement, flipping the vehicle. Gladiator found himself air born as he was wrenched from the driver's seat.<br/><br/>Training took over and he formed himself into a ball. Pain lanced through his back and arms as he impacted on the ground, bounced, hit again, and skid for thirty feet or more until he hit something that felt like a concrete barrier, and flipped over onto his stomach, his feet flying over his head. He rolled so many times he lost count before he finally lost consciousness. His forward momentum finally lost energy a few seconds later and he stopped.<br/><br/>The Banshee flyers circled once, unknown to the unconscious form on the street, and then finally left, making their way towards the city on their original path.