Cath

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar accepted the proffered metal canister with a grunt and studied it distastefully. She knew a lot of her family and friends back on Brissekh would’ve been angry at the mere gesture. However, it seemed spending so much time in Paxopolis had begun to change Tar’s perception. Medicine and doctors were in bountiful supply there, and the Arbiter’s robust lobbying for the preservation of Sangheili life made some sense. They were not as strong as they once were; they could no longer afford to throw their lives away over their honour.

Tar hung back for a few seconds and let the rest of the team file past toward the waypoint. She then injected the contents of the canister into the back of her leg - the one that had been shot. She then quietly rested the empty shell on top of a crate and jogged to catch up with the rear of the group.

---

Once the lift had come to rest on the vast platform and the target was marked, Tar wasted no time in springing into action. Her pistol wasn’t effective at the kind of range needed to take out the leader, but there were closer hostiles that needed dealing with anyway. Most were rushing to evacuate, but some did stop and begin shooting at them.

Tar surged off the lift and towards cover at top speed. Her stolen pistol was enveloped in both hands as she emptied her magazine suppressing as many of the rebels as she could. Upon reaching a wheeled trolley of heavy equipment, she savagely kicked it towards a gaggle of enemies in riot gear, sending them running to get out of the way.

The Cradle

“I’m not sure any amount of explanation will help…” Freyr muttered, glancing again at the Agent.

What Marae said next excited her greatly, but Freyr did her best to maintain an equal tone. This wasn’t the expedition’s main objective. “A noble endeavor. Let me know if you require assistance; it’s something of a specialist subject for me.

---

The two science teams pushed on with preparing for a second insertion, including the set up of a tandem link between the object, the FOB and the Barb. The enormous computing power at their disposal allowed for seamless virtual collaboration and analysis between the two labs. The majority of this to and fro centred on discussing the best way to approach the ancient entity, but a multitude of side projects were simmering away on the fringes too.

However, the timeline was thrown into disarray when Captain Andersen informally requested a short postponement. She was obviously reluctant to submit state of the art military hardware contained within her soldiers to any scanners apart from her own. Freyr tried to explain that Outreman infantry likely possessed nothing the Rothians already knew about, but Andersen maintained that clearance was required from Fleet Command.

While Dr Lang theoretically had discretion on all scientific activity, they were guests aboard the Barbarossa. It would have been the height of bad form to press ahead with the plan, so Freyr reluctantly acquiesced, after stressing the very short timeline everyone was working to. The Captain sympathised, but maintained her need to follow procedure.

So Freyr gritted her teeth and pressed her team to work with the info they had until things played out.

The Cradle

Freyr sighed, before looking at the Agent again while Marae turned her attention elsewhere. 595’s eyes had narrowed slightly. ”Hey, i tried! Marae is sort of correct.” Freyr protested. The black-clad spook folded her arms and assumed contrapposto, thinking for a moment. ”The Captain will have something to say about this. I’ll have her talk to the Datius. Let's put this science class on ice until it’s resolved.”

”That’s not your call.” Freyr retorted, but she hesitated. Would the Captain actually have and objection? It occurred to her that several of the military types attached to the scientists might have hardware in their heads that they might not want to reveal. Although she had operational control of the expedition, the Captain could veto the use of Human protection while in the simulation if she wasn’t satisfied.

Freyr turned quickly back to the holo after her retort, determined not to acknowledge the daggers 595 was throwing from her eyes. She fully realised the risk she was undertaking now, but wouldn’t surrender her one true piece of influence - executive without a fight. She focused her attention on answering Marae while the Agent got in contact with Captain Andersen.

“Alright, yes. Let’s attempt to open a dialogue. But if it proves unresponsive there’s no time to waste. We can insert the lab but leave it dormant until we need it.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar clattered to the floor as the Brute Chieftain slumped on top of her. She roared, thrashing about wildly, eventually levering the giant corpse over onto its front before scrambling to her feet. She quickly surveyed the field, and gradually stood down when she was confident the threat had passed for now. Her leg protested; the background level of pain she could feel hidden in her armour was gradually increasing. She gritted her mandibles together and tried to ignore it.

A waypoint appeared in Tar’s HUD, and she fell in behind the Spartan team leader as they moved toward it. On the way, she discarded her spent Mauler for an M90 shotgun from one of the warped crates. Tar ripped the fingerguard clean off the weapon to accommodate her Sangheili digits before bringing the gun to her shoulder. Not long after, she stooped to grab a pistol from the belt of a downed insurrectionist with her off hand, eyes constantly scanning for hostiles.

Tar peeked into the small room the team’s AI led them to, before standing alert behind some crates outside it. The rest of the team arrived, announcing beforehand so as to avoid attracting friendly fire. Tar greeted them with a cursory nod, checking them out for gear and equipment until the AI revealed they were short on time. “Our quarry flees! We should hunt them down.” She snarled.

The Cradle

595 immediately opened a private channel with Freyr upon Marae mentioning scans. ”Absurd overreach. Tell them we can scan our own people. Tell them.” Freyr glanced at the Agent, who was staring oppressively at her. She was doing exactly what Roth’Orsa had said she would. She didn’t see any way to reasonably maneuver 595 through a Rothian scan though. The Barb did have facilities more than capable of comprehensively monitoring neurological function in Humans.

Freyr tried to be diplomatic. “I agree. We can keep very close tabs on our group from here. The Barbarossa boasts one of the best medical suites Outremer has to offer, after all.” She shot a look at 595 after that. ”We do need to keep you under observation. Just to make sure there’s no damage.” Freyr blocked her out again to answer Marae’s other concern.

“We can just terraform the ground underneath where the lab will go. This allows us to detect any changes to geography and prevent the sim from, say, swallowing us up in a chasm.” Freyr spoke in a calm and matter of fact manner, like she had hundreds of times before when explaining the Cradle to the uninitiated. “It’s perfectly harmless.”

Four Score and Five Years Ago...

Welcome home

The Cradle

“Perfect! Roth’Orsa and I discussed a joint IP scheme for all these collaborations.” Freyr lied. “We’ll send over the documentation and will need to get post-hoc ratification before we can consider the equipment’s use for our mission. I’d also like my people to inspect the new additions, to make sure they’re safe for Humans. We can’t afford any more injuries.” Freyr glanced over at 595 to see if her new show of standoffishness was working. The Agent appeared satisfied, nodding at her from off camera. She carried on.

“We should have a full debrief, but right now my team is going through the data we collected. From what i can see, it’s not translating well at all. Which is why I’d like to try and set up a lab inside the sim next. It’ll afford us much faster processing times and give us a shot at finding something meaningful before the week is over. We have a full-size CradLab ready for insertion in the Barbarossa, either we can send a description or you’re welcome to come and see. I’ve also cleared the way for a Terraformer/Builder duo to insert and set up shop this time. I'm conscious of time, so how do you feel about spinning up the mission this afternoon?”

The Cradle

Snapping from her reverie momentarily, Freyr grabbed a pill from her back pocket and popped it in her mouth. She slurped her coffee again and wolfed down a spoon of her granola as she watched 595 make her way over. The Agent was being uber polite, standing aside to let scientists pass and exchanging pleasantries with them. That wasn’t a good sign.

---

At this point, Freyr realised didn’t have much to lose by doubling down on her statement. What she was saying wasn’t technically a fabrication. It just relied on the Speaker actually following up on what she’d said. “I’ve already told you. We talked about improving our Cradle-tech. You should be thanking me.”

Director-General Smith audibly sighed. Freyr noticed 595 look quickly at his holo, as if waiting for some signal. Smith almost imperceptibly shook his head at the Agent, before looking back at Freyr. Every nerve ending in her body was screaming at her to get up and run, but Freyr forced herself to remain motionless.

“Very well. I’d like you to conduct your investigations from aboard the Barbarossa. That way, I’m better placed to help you coordinate the team’s efforts, and can stay in closer contact. I also require the Agent or myself to be involved in every conversation you have with the Rothians from now, in the interests of national security.”

Smith paused, and returned with a consolatory tone. “Only together, will we bring your family back. That’s your main reason for being here, right? Remember that.” Freyr felt her jaw tighten and her breathing stop. The Director-General signed off, and 595 patted her gently on the shoulder before leaving her alone in the conference room, staring at the wall until she couldn't hold her breath any longer.

---

“Good morning. What’s the plan?” 595 asked enthusiastically, gliding in beside Freyr’s console. Freyr eat another spoonful of granola and made the Agent wait while she swallowed. “I’m going to request a tandem insert from the Barb. We’ve got the infrastructure here to move heavy equipment into the sim. It’ll be faster than transporting everything down to the FOB.”

“Exciting!” 595 grinned, stroking her arm. Freyr tried her best to not look resentful as she requested a call with Marae.

The Cradle

Freyr looked up from the console she was reading from over Dr Wetherall’s shoulder and saw Agent 595 exiting her office. They locked eyes across the lab - the spook winked and grinned devilishly at her. Freyr didn’t react, immediately thinking back to the previous afternoon.

The Rothian Speaker, Roth’Orsa, had questioned the motives of the Director-General, Agent 595 and the organisation they claimed to be a part of. A lot of what she...it had said resonated with what Freyr had pieced together so far. It had felt nice to talk to something that shared her concerns, even if they were almost certainly synthetic.

But any feeling of security Freyr gained from the meeting were immediately shaken upon leaving. 595 promptly and firmly whisked her back to the Barbarossa, where the Director-General was waiting on a holo-screen. Ostensibly, this meeting was for her to run through her report on their foray into the simulation, propose next steps and answer questions. Freyr dutifully obliged; the bright-eyed man was technically her boss, after all.

She explained her recommended course of action - learn as much as possible about the object before it was moved, try to negotiate terms of use for the Cradle. 595 jumped in, changing the conversation entirely. “What did you and the Speaker talk about? Back then, in Threria.” The Agent was leaning against the wall behind where Freyr was seated with her arms crossed. The Director-General’s holo was in front of her, staring into her soul.

Freyr had been expecting the question, but her throat still tightened and her cheeks still burned. She gulped. “She wanted to talk about how they could best assist us with our investigations.” 595 appeared from behind and sat down in a seat facing her. “And what did you say?” The Director-General asked. “We’re, uh, going to set up a joint patent scheme to take advantage of Rothia’s advanced technology. They claim to have improved our mobile transit station design. Don’t worry, I’ll have our team ensure they-”

“You’re lying to us, sweetie. I thought we were friends?” 595 asked.

“I’m not lying, I-”

“You do not have the authority to make deals on Outremer’s behalf. I will need to see your implant recordings of this conversation, to see if it’s something we can legally offer.” The Director-General interrupted her.

Freyr hesitated, then pretended to look through her internal archive before focusing back on him. “I don’t have anything recorded, the Speaker must have a scrambler. I’m sure she’d repeat it for you though.” 595 chortled.

The Director-General considered her like a science teacher might inspect a dissection sample. A few seconds passed before his features softened and spoke softly again. “These aliens, Dr Lang...they aren’t your colleagues. That thing you just talked to is the leader of a police state. They want nothing more than to take the Cradle for themselves and turn us into a satrapy if we give them the chance. While our leaders have lost their senses and agreed to cooperate with them, that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down.”

He took a pause. “I understand that collaboration in the pursuit of science is your natural response. But this is no longer just a scientific endeavor. The survival of our entire species hangs in the balance now. Conspiring against Outremer and Humanity with a foreign power is at best, grounds for dismissal. At worst, treason. So i’ll ask you one more time. What did you say to them?”

The Cradle

“My patience is wearing thin, Agent. This is the second time you’ve failed us.” The Director-General spoke directly into 595’s head. She was curled up in Freyr’s office, cross-legged in her chair. Rows of symbols flashed on a nearby monitor as she stroked the interface pad. “Your inability to control the powers we’ve invested in you will be drawing even more attention to us...Do we need to replace you?”

“No, Master. I’ve meditated on it now. All the signs point to my Sublimation having begun already. I will exercise more restraint from now on, like you taught me. I will keep an eye on the other Humans too, in case they show any signs of change. The Rothian Datius may prove a bit trickier…”

“Don’t attempt anything until we’ve extracted the Navigator from Rothian space. Just run interference on any further investigation. We have to assume the entity interpreted our handshake as we intended...We have a team examining the sample data you sent. If you hear anything from CRD about the location of the other artifacts, you report back immediately. Understand?”

“Yes, Master.” 595 wanted to ask about the situation at home, about the fight raging inside the Cradle. But she knew the Director-General wouldn’t answer. He chimed in again. "And try to drive a wedge between Dr Lang and this...Vreta'Sori. We'll deal with him properly when the time comes." 595 spotted Freyr entering the lab space outside the office windows. “Of course. I have to sign off now - Dr Lang has risen.”

“Don’t let me down. We are watching you closely.” The connection to Outremer ceased. 595 quickly uncurled from her comfy position on the seat and padded out of the office.