Cath

Halo: Aegis Team

As the breach was so small, a traffic jam inevitably ensued as the heavier armour filtered through into the city. Soldiers on the walls began firing small arms and chucking grenades down onto the vehicles beneath. Tar’s Wraith hung back slightly and pounded the walls with blue balls of plasma. She tilted her plasma repeater as far up as it would go and sprayed the parapets, forcing some of the Sangheili there to take cover. Her shield flared as a carbine bolt pinged off the Wraith and into her face.

“Clear the gap, move!” Tar yelled, ducking back down as far as she could go into her cockpit area as her gun overheated.

The Cradle

Freyr waited patiently for everyone to assemble around the map table. It sat near the mini-Vault, with one of its giant sides acting as a wall and projection screen if needed. When everyone was quiet and attentive, she began by pulling up a hologram of the Cradle; it hung above them like a pure white sun.

“Our working hypothesis is that the Cradle was designed to store, develop and index the potential for millions of life forms - both flora and fauna. It would travel between galaxies, seeding planetary objects with these organic blueprints so that life could flourish.”

“Why?” one of the Tindrel asked.

“We don’t know for certain yet. What we do know is that we’ve recently found a life form with an apparently symbiotic relationship with the Cradle. It calls itself the Navigator, and it was badly damaged when we rescued it. Apparently, it was attacked by another synthetic called the Hegemon. Most of them managed to escape - the Cradle, the Navigator and the others all hid in different places around our galaxy.”

“Who are these ‘others’ of which you speak?” A QV scientist burbled. It had stolen a Human lab coat and was now wearing it within its mobility suit.

“Other life forms like the Navigator, presumably. The Navigator’s name suggests that together they could form some sort of ‘crew’ that can effectively operate the Cradle. Unlock its true potential.”

Freyr waved one hand, and the hologram changed to show the Cradle being orbited by four smaller tetrahedrons.

“You said ‘most’ of them escaped.” One of Freyr’s team piped up. Throwing her a slow ball - nice.

“That’s right. The Navigator seemed pretty sure that one of them was either destroyed or captured by the Hegemon.” Freyr pointed at her subordinate. One of the four tetrahedrons blew apart into a million little pixels that drifted away from each other.

“So why are we here, near one of our planets?” Gazes Fondly asked. They were curled up on a swivel chair near the map table, their mobility suit totally encompassing it. This prompted an immediate reaction.

“This planet is ours!” Chitnarit roared, rearing up on her hind legs. She began pushing through the crowd for Gazes. Freyr looked for Knossos to find him and and one of Void Company jogging to her from by the door.

The Cradle

Dr Lang nodded a few times, arms crossed across her chest and clasping her sides. “It certainly is impressive, and no I…normally don’t swim about on the job.” She watched one of the Qalian-Vosh peel off from the group and dive through the nearest bulkhead door into the water, a couple more quickly followed. They navigated up one of the tubes at high speed, their forms completely optimised for agile swimming.

“Now might be a good time for a bit of ‘Who’s Who’. Freyr pulled up the team sheets in her head and asked her implants to match names and photos with the aliens milling around the hangar bay.

“Xenobiology, astrophysics, chemical engineering, artificial intelligence…lots of skills on paper here. Some people I can't place, either.” Freyr chucked the cross referenced list she’d created to Vreta. “That QV who sucked you into its suit; I don't see a record for them.”

The Cradle

The species stayed relatively separate on their journey to the lab. Gazes Fondly seemed to be in charge of the QV, marshalling them to group their suits together in one large amorphous blob. They appeared to have some kind of team meeting, swirling round together while their combined suit rolled along the corridor. The Tindrel kept trying, and failing, to latch onto the perfectly flat walls. The tiny hooks attached to their legs protracted and retracted dozens of times.

There was no welcome party on the ship, per say. There had already been an official exchanging of team sheets that frankly Freyr had paid little attention to. But shortly after moving from the acclimatisation chamber and into their new lab, Dr Lang spotted Knossos of the Sacred Band standing guard by the door. Freyr waved.

A loophole in the agreement for scientific expeditions meant that vessels could hire private military personnel to act as security and support staff. In the case of this expedition, that just so happened to include some of the most effective warfighters in the Diaspora. Captain Andersen had lobbied extremely hard to put her team on the ship, instead of a team from some other ship in the fleet. Outremer’s vestigial fief system meant that military officers were allowed to augment their retinue with elite and/or specialised individuals, using funds accrued from the various services an army or naval vessel can do for its surrounding community. Sending these special units to do ‘good works’ was a common way of building up their master’s status and influence. It also meant Captain Andersen could monitor the mission through the eyes of all the Sacred Band while they were on duty.

Knossos himself wasn’t in armour, for maybe the second time since they had met. His scarred and craggy skin was pale and his grey beard neatly clipped. Despite his advanced age, his crew uniform still bulged with augmented muscle. The sidearm on his hip wasn’t even close to standard issue. He nodded a fraction of an inch in reply.

Freyr turned her attention to the centre of the cavernous hall. After frenzied, technical collaboration, another miniature Vault had been transported aboard the Rothian science vessel. Manufactured secretly in orbit around Outremer’s moon, it was roughly fifty metres by fifty metres. Much smaller than the vault used to house the Cradle, it had been designed to perfectly fit another organism like the Navigator. If this other being was bigger, and the Navigator had declined to give any details, it could expand slightly at a large cost to its overall integrity. Dozens of Institute technicians jealously guarded its control systems.

The QV & Tindrel teams instantly swarmed over to take a look at the device.

The Cradle

Gazes Fondly reluctantly complied with Vreta’s request. The Rothian plopped out of the suit and all of the residual goo on his scales eventually dropped off and made its way back where it belonged.

The yellow-tinged QV blobbed through Freyr’s legs to where her mug lay smashed on the deskplate. Laying flat on the floor, its suit slurped up all the little ceramic pieces and with astonishing speed put them back together. The sludge acted like an adhesive, sealing it. Gazes popped the mug into its mouth to evaluate what may have been inside.

Chitnarit had calmed down a little bit, though she still clattered around on the metal floor with her hairy yet spiky legs.

“I should hope so. Your ship does not seem very comfortable - will you show us where you propose we will work?”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

8.5k?

The Cradle

“Open your mouth, let me inspect you.” Gazes Fondly broadcast. Two translucent appendages floated up, gently grasped one row of Vreta’s teeth each and tried to lever them apart. The QV’s skin flickered yellow.

On the whole, the handlers assigned to receive the scientific teams had lost the attention of their audience. The Tindrel and QV were squabbling in the corridor like a bunch of school children until Freyr loudly smashed her mug on the wall. Ceramic pieces clinked to the floor. Most eyes turned to her, with a notable exception of Gazes Fondly, who was still gazing fondly at Vreta.

“Okay everyone, let's move back into the welcome atrium!” Freyr clapped her hands loudly together and made a shooing motion as she approached the group.

“We don’t have much time, so let's get you up to speed! Our Rothian hosts are excited to show you around.”

The Cradle

At the moment Vreta placed a hand on them, both the offending Tindrel and QV appeared locked together and delicately counterbalanced. After a half-moment of silence where they listened to the Rothian, the Tindrel rocked back off its hind legs and delivered a violent shove to the QV.

“Get off me!”

The QV’s mobility suit lost its shape from the push, but latched onto Vreta’s ankle. It swung around and quickly reformed around his whole body. The QV inside wrapped its various appendages around Vreta’s body and shimmied around until their respective faces were millimetres away. The suit was only just big enough for both of them.

“Greetings, you can call this one…Gazes Fondly.”

“The watery vermin need to watch what their FILTHY wetsuits are doing, or I will rend them down to a mere puddle.” The large Tindrel scientist croaked, clacking angrily on the deckplate.
“This one could say the same about the insects crawling all over your body, Chitnarit.” A second QV burbled. A crowd of the two species of aliens had appeared from the atrium, along with some Humans and Rothians.

Freyr finished her mug of coffee and started walking towards the hubbub.

The Cradle

“Perhaps, but i won’t hold my-”

Freyr paused as crashing sounds came from the reception atrium in front of them. Human and Rothian shouts were mingled with a harsh nasal tick tocking and a decidedly liquidy slurping.

Suddenly, the automatic doors whooshed open and a mess of spindly legs and gel sac exploded out. A large Tindrel female clung onto a QV mobility suit as the waterborne alien furiously writhed around. Using the mass of gel to gain momentum, the QV smashed the Tindrel against the wall. The Tindrel replied by rending the side of the suit with its sharp talon - grey liquid sloshed out before the suit joined back together.

More Tindrel and QV spilled from the atrium. Some of them appeared intent on splitting the two up, others looked like they might join in.

Freyr stopped where she was and took another slurp of coffee. She shot a sly glance at Vreta and tried not to laugh.

The Cradle

Freyr climbed slowly up the metal stepladder and looked into the pod. Her own dimly illuminated face peered back from the mirror-like surface of the water - the wired headpiece cradled her head like a crown of thorns.

“You’re sure this is safe?” she asked again.

“Yes ma’am. We can monitor your vitals from right here on the screen.” One of the doctors responded.

“Should take five minutes or less. Just lie back and relax.”

Freyr gingerly swung her legs round until she was sat on the side, before slowly sliding into the water. It was deeper than expected; she couldn’t touch the bottom. It was warm, and smelled vaguely of chlorine. The flotation packs on her vest soon spun her round so she was on her back with the back of her head submerged.

“Closing the door now, keep your eyes open please.”

One by one, the lights on the ceiling were blocked out until everything was black.

---

Freyr gripped the balustrade tightly. She was on a balcony on some high tower, looking out over endless flatlands. The sky was black and crisscrossed with pink skeins; white wafted through the air. Even though there was no natural light, she could see clearly that thousands of structures were in the process of being built from the same base material as the Cradle itself. Engines, terrariums, menageries, manufacturers, laboratories. The whole plain seemed to creak and clang with the momentum of industry.

The little hairs on the back of Freyr’s arms and neck raised, and she turned around. The Navigator was standing inches from her, crackling with the energy of a thousand suns. It looked much healthier than it had when they’d last been together; the jagged edges of its form had flattened slightly and it had taken on a purple hue with a white hot outline and tiny spots of orange. Its eyes were still the same red pinpricks.

The Navigator studied her for a moment, then looked over her shoulder at the scene taking shape behind her.

“Someone like you stood in this very spot, a long time ago.” It whispered.

“Who were they?”

“Our commander, I suppose. Someone we created to lead us.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want you to be ready, when the time comes. The development of your entire species has been leading to this moment. Your family is depending on you.”

“Give them back to me!”

“I can’t do that, the Cradle has them. You must find the others and return them here first. Then we will see which of you is ready-”

“Show me they’re alive. I’ll do whatever you want, just please show me they’re safe.”

“...very well.”

After a moment, the Navigator stepped to one side - David and Amy were standing in the circular hall leading to the balcony.

“Oh my…” Freyr’s hands moved to cover her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears.

“Mummy!” Amy wrestled free of her father’s tight embrace and ran to Freyr. She hadn’t aged a day since being taken.

“It's ok baby, Mummy’s here. She’s going to get you out.” Freyr sobbed. David came over and joined the hug.

“I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll kill them all-

---

“Doctor Lang!”

Freyr opened her eyes to find the pod door opening up again and Masgard reaching in to grab her. Alarms were sounding inside the chamber, and she could hear the doctors communicating loudly nearby.

She thrashed around, completely disoriented. Water splashed all over Masgard’s face and tailored suit as he hauled her untidily out of the tub.

---

Freyr had been sleeping deeply for the last couple of weeks, so felt quite groggy when Vreta’s alarm went off ahead of schedule. She quickly got dressed in a grey cotton tracksuit with ‘Navy’ printed on the front, sensible shoes and her standard issue lab coat, unbuttoned. She tied her hair into a ponytail (it had been growing fast) and opened the door two seconds after Vreta knocked.

“Morning! Long time no see.” Freyr said with a sarcastic grin, stepping out into the corridor and locking the door behind her before taking the proffered cup of coffee.

“Thank you. Why are they so early? That is not how I thought this would go.”