- SnapSpArTaN117
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- Exalted Heroic Member
I have an idea as to how Johnson, Miranda and the Arbiter made it to Earth (assumedly) before the Master Chief. Jesse said that in Uprising (which I was unfortunately unable to get a copy of), Truth made a stop at Mars. That would have bought some time for Johnson and crew to get to Earth first. As to how they got there before Shadow of Intent and the rest of the Elite-commandered ships, perhaps there had been a ship that was made nearly unusable for battle, but still had the capacity for Slipspace travel.
Rather than wait for the battle over Delta Halo to finish and the fleet to gather, perhaps Johnson and others used this craft to get to Earth before the main Elite force. If it had been near unusable, it's very possible that they essentially scrapped it when they reached Earth.
As to why the Arbiter went with them, none of us can be sure. Maybe he saw the importance in getting there sooner.
Since we don't know how far ODSTs timeline goes, it may or may not intersect with them returning to Earth. If it did it would probably answer at least a few questions.