A fail-safe detonation system is a term that is used to explain the self destruct system of a WIA or KIA Spartan-II's MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. Once a Spartan-II is killed or wounded fatally, the protocol will have to be enacted by either themselves or a nearby Spartan. This is done to avoid capture of the suit and/or the wearer for identification or technological study. It is unknown if the Mk. VI has this capability, since the Mk. V is said to have one.[1]
Effectiveness
The tiny access panel at the back of the suit is opened to activate the protocol, it is activated by typing several digits only Spartans know. Once activated, a fifteen-second countdown timer starts. Once it hits zero, the suit's fusion reactor overloads and burns everything in its path in a ten-meter radius with a follow-up explosion to finish anything alive.[2]
Trivia
- The Master Chief is the only known Spartan to activate the fail-safe detonation system (on Grace-093's suit after she was killed by a Brute in the Covenant city of Unyielding Hierophant).[3]
- It is known that activation of the armor's fusion reactor is part of the Cole Protocol, and failure to activate the core when possible will result in court martial and/or strip of rank.
Sources
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 315
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 315
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 315