Cath

The Cradle

Wallace laughed like a few accidentally pressed piano keys at Nirann’s comment. She nodded and ate a few small sugared nuts, listening to Marae. Freyr finished her cup of tea and realised she wanted some more. She looked over at the attendant tray, and it obediently hovered over to her.

“Well Marae, if someone had acquired a lead on where another of these Cradle creatures may have crashed, that could help.” Wallace began. “But i think the real question is what you plan to do with all these celestial voyagers if you find them?”

Freyr’s ears perked up at the mention of Cradle creatures, and she sat forward in her seat.

The Cradle

“Mmmm.” Wallace sub-vocalised indulgently, leaning back in her chaise longue. “I understand this must be very frustrating for you. Rothians have a clarity of direction going back centuries. By contrast, us Humans are tribal by design.” The Plenipotentiary gestured between herself and Freyr, who blushed lightly.

“We are all part of a rich tapestry going back thousands of millenia. A shared story that’s full of hope, yes. But also violence, deception, greed. We’ve been brought low enough times to understand the benefit to forming groups of like-minded people. But now, our civilization is spread across hundreds of objects, floating far apart in space.” Wallace took a pause to sip her tea. A finger of bright light brushed the water above their heads, from the surface. Freyr craned her neck but couldn’t see the source.

“These ancient bonds which tie our people, institutions, beliefs and ideas together are taut. Some have broken, snapped under the strain of generations apart, or the wars. Others have crystalised, and a few have evolved into something entirely new. This ‘red tape’ you see, is actually not an altogether negative sign. It shows that people are talking to others which they ordinarily wouldn’t. It is abrasive and sometimes violent right now, but I believe the unrest is symptomatic of old fractures which are finally beginning to mend. The question is whether our society will mend around the Cradle, or eject it like our own bodies might with a foreign object.”

The Cradle

“These are…special circumstances - there is no doubt. I just hope that particular appointment doesn’t get in the way of meaningful collaboration...a little bird told me that the area immediately above the Cradle has been evacuated now.” With that statement, Wallace took another polite sip of tea, little finger erect.

Freyr slurped hers too, cupping the vessel in both hands. She was pleased by the news that people were being moved to safety, but it somehow felt a long way away now. This chair was more comfortable with every passing second, and the atmosphere inside the office seemed intractably cosy.

Everyone listened in silence to Nirann as he piped up. Freyr noticed a spark of enthusiasm ignite behind Wallace’s eyes. “Now, that’s an interesting subject. What do you think their ‘ends’ are?”

Halo: Aegis Team

A Tengmaa bulb’s hide was tough for a reason - all of the plant’s digestive and nervous capacity was contained within that control centre. However, the plant’s evolutionary pathway evidently hadn’t prepared for a barrage of radiation, explosives and bullets. So when the bulb’s vulnerable innards were exposed under the water and promptly cut to shreds, the Tengmaa quickly lost control of its numerous appendages.

The first to go limp were the half dozen thick trunks which stretched all the way out into the sunlight, gradually tapering at the end. Next were the serpentine manipular vines coating every surface of the cave interior. Then, with nothing left to distract the invaders, the throbbing cilia inside the pool trap promptly died.

And with that, the Tengmaa bulb unmoored from the position it had held over the cave’s onward descent for decades. First came a sickly snapping noise as the struts supporting it detached. Then, with a sound like a giant toilet flushing, it disappeared into the large hole on which it had previously been sitting. This was how it had filtered waste water out of the chamber to stop it flooding before.

The water rushed over the rocks, disappearing down the waste chute after the bulb. The chamber was filled with this roaring sound for a while. This new opening also helped disperse some of the toxic particles from the room, though Tar still choked uncontrollably as she struggled to her feet and surveyed the area. Water was pouring in from the opening above their head and another gap along the wall from them (the other cave opening, most likely). It wasn’t enough to refill the bowl below them though, so it quickly emptied until just a few carcasses lodged in place remained.

Fanning her mandibles with one hand, Tar got up, walked to the edge and wordlessly jumped down into the barren bowl. Her energy sword’s pommel had fortunately gotten stuck in a crevice and hadn’t washed away, so she carefully picked it up. Looking up toward the ceiling and coughing lightly, Tar returned her lost sword to its mount on her back, with the other one.

She pointed upward, to the feeble shaft of light shining down on her from above. “I see the way up the mountain! I remember now - it is an invigorating climb.”

The Cradle

Wallace’s expression remained static while the others talked, smiling politely. She gave all three of them equal eye contact from her position on the chaise longue, studying them. Without a word, or looking up at Alderney, she accepted a cup and saucer of fragrant tea and cradled it with both hands. Her servant bowed, and having finished his duty, padded back towards the doors.

“Yes, so I'm told. Allow me to apologise again for these unfortunate circumstances.” The double doors closed again behind Alderney, and then promptly disappeared into the wall with a hum. The silence of the office intensified as any connection with the rest of the ship was muffled.

“I hope to secure your release in the coming days, so you can pursue whatever path you decide.” Wallace continued, sipping her boiling hot tea. “My staff have asked for use of the Barbarossa to house you again, the Human elements at least. But the Navy wants to meet you in person beforehand.” Wallace plucked a lokum cube off the floating tray as it went between the group and popped it in her mouth.

The Cradle

Wallace laughed musically along with Nirann as she sashayed across the spherical office. “Oh yes. I have fun wherever I am. I realised a long time ago that waiting patiently for your life to become more enjoyable will often prove disappointing. One must act.”

A left-hand chaise longue constructed for Wallace as she approached the far end of the seating area. The Plenipotentiary arranged herself elegantly across it, with her back to the main transparent bulge. She spared barely a glance at the floodlit lake depths around them. Freyr couldn’t help but track a mobula-type creature as it flapped past the back of the ship. The seat she’d chosen, closest to the door, seemed more like one big amorphous cushion than an actual chair. She gripped the material on either side of her to avoid sinking any further.

“Is that what you’re expecting tonight? A good time?” Wallace showcased her perfect teeth in a smile, as the double doors glided open again. Alderney entered, followed by a floating tray of tea and sweet treats. They stopped to one side of the group, and began decanting the steaming hot liquid into dainty cups.

The Cradle

“I run most of my business from this ship.” Wallace motioned grandly to their blurred surroundings as she led them through the wide aisle towards the stern with her two aides in tow. Freyr thought she could see movement through the blurred forcefields all around. People, perhaps? Deep purple and pink and blue lights blinked on and off, like lighthouses in the fog. Two people stepped out from behind the curtain and onto the gangway, but stopped and let them pass. Each bowed deeply to Wallace, their faces blurred beyond all recognition.

“It offers me a greater degree of discretion than Rothian worlds, and I can be wherever I'm needed. We have state of the art signal tech on board, courtesy of our Friends below Babylon.” Freyr realised now that she’d worked on some of the components for this type of ship, nearly half a decade ago now. She cleared her throat nervously, still in awe of the things they’d deployed without fully understanding them.

They arrived at a grand set of doors, flanked by two guards in elaborate dress. “Chirtsey, make Sergeant Skopec comfortable please. Alderney, serve us some tea in my office.” Wallace commanded her two servants, as the doors opened up ahead of them. The Institute soldier looked apoplectic with rage, Freyr realised, but didn’t say anything as the rest of the party followed the Plenipotentiary.

The Cradle

Wallace mulled it over for a moment, before shrugging delicately. “Very well. It’s highly irregular, but these are changing times, I suppose. My servants will find a place for them on the vessel and ensure they’re deafened while inside.” The Plenipotentiary clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth, and smiled graciously. “Sergeant, see to it that this person is brought to me post-haste. And don’t let anyone else find out where they are going, thank you.”

“Yes ma’am.” Skopec grunted, his eyes glazing over as he conveyed the order.

Wallace glanced between Marae and Freyr. “Happy? We can’t be too long - I’m making a lot of people quite unhappy by showing up like this.” Her voice lowered to a conspiratorial level. “Quite exciting, isn’t it?” She smirked.

Freyr didn’t understand what was about to happen, but the Plenipotentiary had piqued her natural curiosity. It wasn’t like she was going to get a full and restful night’s sleep anyway. “Blast it, I'm in. If only for a change of scenery.”

Skopec stepped forward, beside Marae. “I’m coming too, to make sure they return in one piece.” Wallace beamed at his scarred face. “I knew that already. Chirtsey will show you to a jumpseat.” She motioned to her left, and one of the black-and-white robed orderlies bowed. The dark maelstrom floating around their head flared, as though lightning had riven the clouds.

“Shall we go aboard? I don’t want to dither.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Evolving to live in cave systems afforded a few natural advantages to Tengmaa plants. The rocky cliffs sheltered its delicate bulb from the brunt of Brissekh’s unforgiving weather cycles, and providing a safe place to grow.

The channels of water had also carved downward slopes and collection points over millennia, allowing the use of gravity to deliver its prey. The steep slide down into the basin chamber which Aegis team was still traversing was testament to that. Many creatures found it difficult to get back up.

Crucially though, the studious Tengmaa had realised these cramped tunnels leading to the basin provided an ideal oesophagus to force food into its stomach. It expended a lot of energy, but often resulted in the target plopping into the water, where the dense mat of cilia quickly trapped and drowned it.

Realising it had something with searing weapons in its throat, the Tengmaa activated its oesophagus mostly out of desperation. Aegis team may have noticed this first as a rumbling and rattling back up at the top of the cave system. Thick vines underneath the parked Spectres flexed and warped, sending the vehicles crashing against each other.

This tension moved down quickly down the throat, with vines on all rock surfaces bowing outwards to push everything towards the bulb. In a couple of seconds, this wall of matter would smash into Aegis’s rearguard like a truck, most of whom were yet to find space on the narrow platform above the bulb chamber.

With both a Sangheili and a mechanical Spartan pulling against the determined vines, Tar hissed from the pain in her arms and down her sides. For a moment, she thought her arms would break, but just before they did, those vines relented their grip and she flew back up onto the platform.

Toxic vapour from the pool and the cut vines was filling the air, so Tar could scarcely breathe without coughing when she tried to breathe through bruised lungs. “Fire! Fire!” She wheezed, barely audible over the general chaos of the chamber.

The Cradle

Wallace turned her head a fraction of an inch to look at Marae. She smiled, then gulped, stretched her jaw, and spoke back to her in a flawless Rothian tongue. “Greetings. I’m honoured to meet you, Marae’Ano. Your reputation precedes you. My name is Wallace, Plenipotentiary for the great world of Outremer. Have you been well-treated?” To Freyr, the Plenipotentiary’s voice continued to be understandable and the same tone as before. Her lips just no longer matched what her implants were feeding back to her.

Skopec clanked up next to her. “I can’t allow you to break lockdown on a whim and ride around with her. It’s not safe.” His voice was low and vitriolic. Freyr turned her head and looked up at him. She realised that his body language was that of a man who’d been frustrated in an argument not long before. Wallace noticed him squaring up to the scientist, and politely interrupted Marae’s answer, back in Human tongue.

“Sorry, Marae. Sergeant - leave the poor woman alone please. She’s been through enough.”

Skopec gritted his teeth, which gradually turned into a strained smile when he realised he would need to try a different tact with this mysterious woman. He turned towards Wallace. “I will have to inform my commanding officer about your arrival, ma’am.”

“They already know I’m here.” Wallace replied, a an air of superiority wafting across her crystalline face.