Chapter Twenty-Three: The Spartan
Later that day the heroes dragged the last of the Patrol bodies onto the battleship where Tercero was inside setting up some bombs.
"Everything almost set up Professor," Connor spoke looking at his phone.
"Excellent, did you install the USB I gave you?" Faraday asked.
"We did, you sure about this professor?" Jaya asked.
"Of course, once the ship leaves the permitter, I'll hack the systems and send an SOS, create the illusion that their ship was attacked and blown up, I will also cover our tracks and send a report of my island being empty," Faraday explained.
"We are nearly ready Connor!" Seth spoke looking over to where Neo was sitting on the side of the ship scrolling through the tablet while Merlin hovered at his side presumably reading over his shoulder.
"So," Kyler spoke approaching, "Neo, was it? What made you join the space army?"
Stopping his scrolling Neo remained silent while Merlin floated over to whisper, "That's actually a very taboo topic for Spartans."
"Spartans? What is that? Like a title?" Seth asked seeing Merlin fly around like she was pacing.
"Well, to put it simply, Spartans are physically, genetically, technologically, and mentally superior super soldiers," Merlin explained.
"They experimented on you? No offense mate but why would you agree to something like that? The whole experience sounds very painful," Seth asked.
"The SPARTAN program, in all bold caps by the way; has never been humane to its soldiers, considering that it was children that they took," Merlin spoke making all who were listening pause.
"They experimented on children?! What the bloody hell!?" Connor spoke crossing his arms.
"Neo-083 is a SPARTAN-II soldier, I've heard the new III program is less cruel but they are still recruiting children, mostly orphans," Merlin explained.
"How on earth does that make that any less horrible?!" a horrified Seth asked.
"What about the series II soldiers?" Jaya asked seeing Neo resume his scrolling.
"What you must all understand is that the purpose of the SPARTAN program was for the following goals; the first goal was to create elite soldiers meant to subdue insurrections in their infancy, without substantial military casualties," Merlin spoke flying to the middle of the ship, "the second goal was to minimize civilian casualties and avert civil war. The third goal was to substantially reduce the cost of conventional means of pacification."
"So, what was the price for that peace?" Connor asked looking at Neo.
"By kidnapping seventy-five children around the age of six and replacing them with flash clones, their families never knew what happened to their children the clone would die due to several medical complications," Merlin spoke seeing Jaya gasp in horror and covered her mouth.
"They kidnapped you?!" Jaya spoke seeing Neo still scrolling, "Why are you not angry?"
"Most don't even remember, they were so young after all, some don't even remember what their parents look like," Merlin explained.
"Oh Neo, I am sorry," Jaya spoke looking at Neo saddly.
"Don't be, we all know the truth," Neo remarked.
"And you're okay with that? The UNSC took you from your home, why are you not furious with them, or hell why even still fight with them?" Kyler asked confused about how Neo could not harbor any anger.
"The training they underwent, Spartans endured a great deal of hardship during the first years of training, high-risk situations, and drills, their abilities were pushed to their very limit and beyond. They also underwent high-level education," Merlin explained.
"Geeze a good education sure makes up for the bullshit they went through," Seth said sarcastically.
"Discipline, Honor, and Respect, their Chief Petty Officer installed these beliefs into these soldiers, he taught them to kill, the difference between right and wrong, all of these things were taught to the child soldiers until they reached the age of fourteen," Merlin spoke flying around again.
"Oh, bloody hell, what horrendous thing did they do then?" Kyler asked.
"They went through the toughest part of their training the biological augmentation procedures, which would kill thirty of the seventy-five children," Merlin spoke.
"Augmentations? We have those here in our world too, but their modifiers for our weapons," Connor spoke.
"Hmm what a coincidence, these enhancements modified the body, as you can see Neo is very tall, this was the result of one of the augmentations his body went through, Spartans are to put it bluntly, giants, they could run at speeds of thirty-four point two miles per hour sometimes even faster for some soldiers," Merlin explained.
"DAMN!" Seth spoke looking at Neo, "What else?"
"Spartans can lift at least three times their own body weight without the aid of their suits, in one case the Spartan John-117 kicked a man wearing an exoskeleton suit so hard it flung him eight meters," Merlin said recalling some of the data she read.
"Interesting I'll have to challenge you to an arm-wrestling fight later Neo," Kyler smirked.
"With increased muscle density their bones are virtually unbreakable they can still be broken by extreme physical trauma mind you," Merlin spoke flying over to Neo, "while their reaction time is impossible to chart accurately, we estimated it to be twenty milliseconds, it's especially faster in combat situations of course they also have us AIs to aid in that too. Their reaction time is so fast they can think, react, and see things happen in slow motion; one Spartan has nicknamed this SPARTAN Time."
"Oh really?" Connor spoke picking up an apple, "Slow Time!"
With his speed, Connor threw the apple fast at Neo who with the fastest reflexes he had ever seen the Spartan caught the apple in his hand and looked up to Connor, "Nice try."
"Muy impresionante," Tercero said crossing his arms. (Muy impresionante = Very impressive)
"Spartans are also known for their sharp eyesight being able to virtually see in the dark, all these abilities have increased over time with the Spartan's growth," Merlin spoke flying over, "so in conclusion the program succeeded in creating the super soldiers they wanted. Neo and I were assigned to fight in the front lines, that's why Neo was placed in a Cyrotube, and then we ended up here."
"Glad you're on our side then," Connor spoke seeing Neo stop scrolling.
"I do have a favor," Neo spoke looking up, "this solider Hal, do you know where his remains ended up?"
"That's a good question, Gabriel any clues?" Connor asked.
"I do indeed, bring him to the Chamber of Fate," Gabriel said.
"Chamber of Fate?" Connor repeated looking to Neo, "Well ok, let's head to the Sanctuary, take my hand we will teleport there."
Reaching out his hand the two teleported to the Sanctuary with Merlin before using the map table to take them back to Bower Lake.
"Are those golden medals a portable translocation platform?" Merlin asked when they arrived at Bower Lake and made their way up Hero Hill.
"A what?" Connor asked looking over to the flying Wisp.
"A teleporter," Neo corrected.
"Oh! Sort of? The Guild Seals allow us to communicate with others with these seals and teleport us to the Sanctuary, all powered by magic of course," Connor explained.
"This world gets more curious and curious," Merlin spoke flying over to Neo who followed close behind Connor, "sir, what do you hope that we are going to find?"
"With any luck his dog tags so we can identify who he was, or maybe his AI was turned into a Wisp like you Merlin and they can tell us what became of him," Neo spoke.
"You don't think his name was Hal?" Connor asked reaching the top of Hero Hill.
"If you remember there are only three generations of SPARTANS the third is still new so this 'Hal' must be a SPARTAN I or II, as far as I am aware all the Series-I soldiers are dead, with the exception of one," Neo explained looking over to Connor.
"So, you suspect this Hal could have been someone you grew up with in that training camp place?" Connor asked connecting the dots.
"Precisely," Neo nodded.
"Oh, I see, so it very possible this 'Hal' could have been someone on the UNSC Starbound with us," Merlin spoke floating around, "yeah that could be possible, we don't know what the flow of time between our worlds could be, him being sucked into Slipspace a mere millisecond before us could easily be a thousand years!"
"Well let's see what this Hal left for us then," Connor spoke using his seal to open a gate into the Hall of Heroes where the two found themselves in the destroyed room.
"My word!" Merlin spoke flying over to the artwork on the walls Connor and Neo couldn't reach, "it's a complete story of one hero."
"Yup, my ancestor, the Hero of Oakvale," Connor nodded watching Merlin circle the room before flying back over to the middle of the room, "wonder what Hal left here?"
Walking over to the broken edge Neo studied the darkness below, "down there."
"Down there?!" Connor repeated peeking over, "How deep is the fall?"
"Nothing I can't handle," Neo spoke grabbing Connor by the back of his shirt and lifting him off the ground.
"Whoa! Neo wait a second! Let's talk about this!" Connor spoke unable to stop the Spartan who jumped down into the darkness while holding Connor, "BLOODY HELL!"
Landing with a loud thud Neo gently set Connor down who formed a Light spell in his hand and Merlin made a light for them, looking around in the darkness of a ruined tomb.
Shinning his light Connor looked over to see what Neo had spotted, an old ruined cryotube. Flying over Merlin tried to see through the dusty glass, "it appears to be inoperational."
"Why would he leave this here?" Connor asked noticing a chest and approached it while Neo opened the lid of the cryotube to see inside lay Hal's armor from the helmet down to the boots.
Picking up the chest plate Neo noticed that the identification number had been scratched out, Merlin also noticed this and shone a light for Neo, "Why would he scratch out his number?"
"Hey, Neo!" Connor called while digging through the chest and pulling out a clothed-wrapped rectangle that he opened to reveal an old tablet, "is this important?"
"An Audio Log?" Neo asked setting down Hal's breastplate before walking over to take the tablet from Connor's hand and attempting to power it on, "it's dead."
"Oh!" Connor spoke taking the tablet back and forming the Shock spell in one handle gently sending little sparks of electricity into the tablet till it turned on, "there we go!"
Taking the Audio Log Neo opened the entries to notice only one Audio Log had been recorded, "odd, it would appear he deleted all the other logs he recorded."
"Play it," Connor spoke approaching to peek at the log.
Hitting the play button they heard what sounded like furniture being moved around before hearing a man sigh, "This is Master...no...this is Hal, twenty years ago while aboard the UNSC Starbound while entering Slipspace the haul was compromised, I and my AI were summoned to a different realm, a reality so different from mine."
Listening closely Connor took a seat on the chest lid watching Neo study the Audio Log, "I landed in a country called 'Albion' The people called me a hero after I stepped in to stop a bandit raid, with the aid of its people I joined a group of heroes who call themselves the 'Heroes Guild' with their help I began to search for a way to return home, a way back to the mission objective."
Hearing a woman in the background say something inaudible Hal resumed his recording, "I realized that there was no going home, my AI and I made a new mission, use our power to aid the people here, however, something happened to her."
"Upon entering this world its magic not only transformed my armor and weapon, it also altered my AI turning her into a 'Wisp' in this world they are the spirits of the dead who have yet to depart from this world. She became...more aware."
Listening Connor glanced over to Merlin who seemed to be moving away from Neo, "The neural interface we had before, the 'connection' it became stronger in this world, she gained free will, she began to learn, push the limits that she never had before, I could sense it, something dark began to interfere."
Clearing his throat Hal spoke again, "She learned that she could do more than just be a light source and a second set of eyes for me, she at first started using the bodies of the dead to aid me in a fight but then she tried to take over living bodies, few times she had nearly succeed, then she attempted to take over my body."
"Bloody hell," Connor whispered wishing he could see Neo's face, wondering what the Spartan was thinking.
"Her reasoning, the connection we had was what kept her from truly being 'real' She attempted to sever the connection, attempted to kill me, and I was left with no choice, with the help of a Will User we sealed her away inside a gem that she had been trapped in before upon our arrival to this world, even now, with her gone, I still feel our connection, feel her anger."
"I am making this log for you solider," Hal spoke now directly talking to Neo, "I fear I will not be the first to come to this world, I know you'll come looking for me, try to find my true name, my tags, my number, you'll find none of those. I saw to it that they are lost forever."
"Whoever you are, whoever you both are," he spoke now talking to both Neo and Merlin, "don't allow your connection to break, you are partners, you two were paired for a reason, have each other's back, learn all this world has to offer, be the heroes you need to be."
Feeling the chest shake Connor stood up and opened it up digging through till his eyes widened with what he picked up and looked over to Neo and Merlin who both still listened to their log.
"Before my death, I entrusted my AI to a Will User, he had banished her to the Void, a dark place where no creature would ever escape, or so we thought, even realms apart...the connection...she had become something twisted; I fear one day she will return to this world. Solider I am trusting you to finish what I couldn't. Take my Guild Seal it will aid you on your journey."
Approaching Connor held out an old-fashioned large Guild seal to Neo who reached out watching the seal glow and shrink turning into that same seal the others of Connor's group carried, taking the seal Neo attached it to his belt buckle.
"One more thing soldier, don't worry about honoring me, Albion people will see to that, I am happy...I know that a strange word to say considering what we are but trust me when I say this world will give you back what had been stolen from us as children, who were snatched from their beds."
Hearing shuffling and creaking of wood as Hal approached his audio log which could be assumed was sitting at a table during the recording and was picking up the tablet, "Albion needs Heroes, it needs you solider, don't let them down. This is Hal, over and out."
At the end of the recording, Neo walked over and placed it inside the cryotube with the armor before closing it and touching the dirty tube, "I will sir."
Flying over Merlin looked to Hal's cryotube before floating around, "What if he right? Will I turn on you like his AI did? Would I try to kill you?"
"Would you?" Neo asked seeing the light move.
"What?! No...I don't think I would...but what if I do? Would I become like her" Merlin spoke her color turning orange indicating the panic in her voice.
"Merlin calm down," Connor spoke.
"Huh?" Merlin spoke her color reverting back to blue, "s-sorry, this is a lot to take in."
"Look I haven't known you both very long but what I do know is that you both are strangers to this world, you'll need each other to learn and survive, do you think you can do that Merlin?" Connor asked.
"Of course," Merlin spoke.
"Good, I'll be holding you to that Merlin," Neo spoke crossing his arms then turned to Connor, "what now?"
"Now? We see where in Albion needs our help," Connor spoke.