"The non-essential civilian drawdown is nearly complete." The Facilitator assured Vreta, flicking a map of the Cradle's surface up on a big screen by them. Numerous dots indicated evacuation centres, with datapoints listed to one side of each. "As these sites are closed down, CraSec, OCI, a mess of private contractors and your Void team are being pulled back to protect the Bridge and key transit hubs until this surge passes." He explained, pointing to a red hexagon that denoted the link between the Cradle and the outside world.

Motioning quickly, the Institute officer led them to the back row of computers, where a variety of military co-ordinators and high ranking officers had congregated. Rareth Jharn peered over them. "Run the clip we were just talking about." The Facilitator badgered one of the analysts on the end of the row. They ran a video in the corner of their busy screen.

It showed footage from someone's chest cam, amid a chaotic scene of smoke, plasma and shouts. The soldier was running along a high walkway on the side of the Bridge's main tower. metre long spikes rained down on the defenders, pinning people to walls in a mist of blood. Fleshy creatures with six legs, claws and a barbed tailed clambered up the sides of the tower around them. "Stop." The Facilitator said, and the frame froze.

"Zoom in. There they are. Comms are still patchy, but the unit you split up with made contact ten minutes ago. We also found them in this footage."