Chapter Seventeen - Scar

1001 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /

Epsilon Eridani system, onboard Surrogate Victor

Reach

"...and so I activated the HAVOC warhead."

"But how did you survive? I thought you said-,"

"I'm not sure. But remember that the crystal was able to deflect high energies. Perhaps it was able to shield me from the blast. All I know is I woke up onboard the Surrogate Victor. The crew said they had avoided the blast and were searching for Vladimir's body amongst the wreckage, and instead found me."

"And Vladimir? Did they ever find him?"

"Yes. Well, most of him. Half of him was close enough to the crystal to escape from the blast. The rest..."

"I see."

"Interesting choice of words."

Daniel tried to smile at Logan's remark, but pain and his own fears of Logan's true intentions lingering in the back of his mind held him. He was still trying to digest everything Logan had told him, how he and the others had journeyed to the Covenant Prophet homeworld and back. How the crystal they had found had distorted space and time. It all seemed so unbelievable, and yet here Logan stood with the battle scars to prove it. Or so he said.

Daniel lied now on a medical bed, fluids pumping into his bloodstream. Logan told him he had been unconscious for over an hour after the generator complex was destroyed. Daniel couldn't see him, but he knew Logan waited nearby, clearly not finished with his tale.

"You see, they took me onboard, not knowing that I had set off the bomb. I was able to convince them that it had gone off accidentally. That I was there to give Vladimir the Elder Prophet. I then took charge of the ship."

"They let you?"

"They didn't have a choice, actually. But I outranked them anyways. There was no need for bloodshed."

Something about the way he said that statement hinted at irony. Daniel shifted uneasily and tried to remain calm, tried to convince himself that Logan was just in a dark mood because of the day's events. Logan cleared his throat and continued.

"I learned from the crew soon enough that Vladimir had his own secrets. The Surrogate Victor was on its own mission. Perhaps one more important than ours. It was no coincidence that it had yet to join the battle in space over Reach. Vladimir was tending to some unfinished business. He had something in store for us Spartans."

Daniel held his breath, waiting for him to continue.

"There are cloning chambers onboard this ship. One hundred to be exact. And they've come straight from ONI, Section Four. Someone named Patterson."

"I don't understand. I thought flash cloning was unperfected."

"It is. But it's been improved upon since the SPARTAN-II program. Vladimir and his crew were on a mission. But when he saw the opportunity to use us to win the war, he took it. Unfortunately his arrogance cost him his life. If he had been smart, he would have left and never come back. His mission would have already been under way..."

"So what now? What was his plan?"

There was a pause in which Daniel assumed Logan had smiled.

"I'm glad you asked. We've already started Phase One of Project SPARTAN-IV."

"Spartan Four?"

"Yes. Vladimir's files disclosed a lot of information to me. The UNSC has already utilized hundreds of SPARTAN-IIIs."

Daniel gasped. It was incredible. Hundreds of other Spartans fighting the Covenant. Perhaps the war wasn't lost. Even with Reach gone, Earth and the other colonies still had a chance at victory.

"But there's a catch," Logan said, though not without a hint of amusement, "the SPARTAN-IIIs individually are nowhere near as efficient as we are. They are powerful in groups. But in the end they've all faced the same fate as we have. Their numbers are dwindling. So Section Four has taken things a step further."

Daniel flinched and cried out in pain as a needle was injected into the base of his neck from a port in his suit's armor. A tingling substance rippled throughout his skull, and he recognized the sensation as nanobots flooding his brain.

"Logan- what are you doing?"

His reply was calm, without emotion.

"You see, Project SPARTAN-IV needs the DNA of a Spartan. Phase One is to locate one and collect a sample. Even as we speak a hundred clones have begun to form with your DNA pattern. A hundred Daniels will be born, in their prime and ready to fight, within three months. Phase Two will consist of training and brainwashing them to become the perfect fighting force, loyal to me and me alone."

Daniel tried to resist and stand up, but his body was numb from the medicines injected into him. He started to shout for help, when he heard Logan raise a hand and close it into a fist. At the same time, Daniel felt a spot around his brain warm from nanobot activity and his jaw clenched tight. Logan chuckled with amusement.

"Our MJOLNIR suits are capable of much, much more than even Dr. Halsey anticipated, Daniel. Phase Three will allow us to unleash its full potential with the Mark VII," Logan said, his voice richening with the drama of his own words, "You see, when the HAVOC went off the crystal was not left undamaged. It shattered into millions of small fragments, most of which were lost to space. But some were found on me, lodged deep into my skin through the openings in my armor. With no shields they passed right through the underlayers of the suit and into my body. The pieces were removed by technicians, and some were placed along key points along my MJOLNIR suit. Giving me...advantages."

Daniel growled back at Logan through gritted teeth.

"Advantages?" He had to buy himself time. But for what, he hadn't a clue.

"Yes. You see, the crystal is controlled by mere thought. Something within it knows what one's intentions are, and it tries to act upon them. It is an ancient but powerful technology. The shards I've received hold nowhere near as much power as the full crystal once did. But it is enough for me to jump through small segments in space and time. I can teleport myself ten meters, slow time to my liking. I can even jump back a second every now and then, or until the power pack generates enough energy for the shards to use again. Imagine this kind of power in the hands of a hundred Spartans, all working as a perfect unit.

"What's Phase Three, then?" Daniel managed. He felt dizzy from the nanobots taking a hold on his mind.

Logan brought his face close to his so that Daniel could feel his breath against his ear.

"With the SPARTAN-IVs under my command, we'll be unstoppable. We'll let the Covenant and the UNSC exhaust each other in their war. And after that...well, the winner will surrender soon enough."

Daniel coughed up blood as a stab of pain lanced his forehead.

"And the nanobots?"

Logan chuckled grimly.

"They will be used to control my Spartans. They will practically be extensions of my own body and mind."

"Why didn't you just clone yourself? I'm sure you'd love the attention."

Daniel braced for the blow to his face, almost hoping Logan would end it all there. But instead Logan laughed heartily, as if they were friends sharing an old joke.

"I would. But something about the shard fragments still in my body have messed with my DNA. The computers deemed me incapable of replication. So I found you."

Daniel forced a grim smile.

"So with these nanobots, what will I become? Your lapdog?" Daniel spat where Logan's visor should have been, and was satisfied by the angry growl that issued from the other Spartan. "In your dreams," he added for good measure.

But Logan's attitude became light and cheery.

"No, not at all. Your nanobots are prototypes. And by the looks of it," Logan said, and Daniel felt his arm snap into a salute against his will, "they're working perfectly. But no, yours are designed to kill you."

Daniel heard Logan snap his fingers.

There was an inescapable fire throughout his body, as his limbs flailed about and his sightless eyes bled.

And then it was over.

o o o

Logan turned from the bed as someone barged through the door and entered the room. The crew member snapped to attention.

"Sir, your requested slipspace destination has been prepared. We're ready to make a jump at your word, sir."

"Good. Tell navigations to activate the Shaw-Fujikawa drive. We're leaving this system."

"Yes sir!" The man snapped another salute and spun on his heel to leave.

"And one more thing," Logan called out, and the man stopped back in the doorway, waiting. Logan used his power pack to channel the energy powering his renewed shields towards a new purpose. He focused the energy down the length of his arm and into the palm of his hand. The air before it rippled from the heat, and a bright orb of power the size of a plasma grenade gathered, waiting to be released.

"Do remember to knock."

Logan thrust his palm forward and loosed the sphere of energy upon the man in a bright, white flash.

A charcoaled mess fell from the doorway.

Logan eased off his helmet and stroked the scar running from the center of his forehead, down at an angle across his eyelid and further to the base of his ear. The wound glistened with the specks of crystal that remained from the passage of a shard, hurled by the force of the HAVOC's explosion.

It begins. Nothing will, nothing can stand in my way, Logan thought, glancing at the blank faceplate of his helmet sitting to the side.

Not even you, Jack.

o o o

- Section III - Earth in progress. ETA August 2008-