This is what happens.
The chief exits next to a forerunner world, the world happens to be along the flight path planned by professor Anders, a planet which she learned about through research of forerunner artifacts taken by marines on the ground through the conflict. coming into range of the planet Sarina picks up a faint unsc signal, being that far out and it being a distress call Sarine wakes that captain, Anders, and crew members in preparation for what might be to come. at arrival they find Master chief and Cortana aboard the rear section of the dawn. some stuff happens blah blah blah, the engineers take the shaw(something) drives from the rear of the dawn section and transplant them into the Spirit Of Fire and off the go back home. four spartan back home in one shot.
i just made the bull-bleep- up lol. just bored
Im thinking that they might just leave him stranded there, no one likes a dead hero, as long as hes alive they have a story.