Cath

The Cradle

Masgard considered the Rothian’s offer carefully. He understood any of their technology could be used to spy on people, and was very difficult to sweep without causing ‘damage’. But he did need to look like he was willing to cooperate, and this was a relatively small concession. He couldn’t think of any logical reason to turn it down. “Thank you, I’m happy with that if you are, Dr Lang?” He looked at Freyr, who nodded.

“After it’s set up, I'd like all security personnel to leave the apartment for the hall and common areas, so Dr Lang can get some rest.” Masgard continued, closing the deal. “If that’s acceptable, let's head to the lobby to discuss details? I’m sure you’re tired of having us in your safe space right now.” The lawyer finished, looking at Freyr one last time to see how many points he’d scored. Freyr smiled gratefully. “Thank you, all of you. I appreciate the effort you’re going to.”

The Cradle

Freyr cringed as she realised how inappropriate her offer had been. The alien had been shot in the stomach. “Oh shit, i’m sorry. This is going terribly.” Freyr muttered, pouring just two glasses of water. One for her and one for the police officer. Freyr walked out from behind the kitchen island and gave one to her while Vreta carried on talking. The woman smiled encouragingly and downed it in one.

Masgard jumped in and replied to Vreta’s offer directly. “I’m afraid i must decline that offer on my client’s behalf. The security we have in place is more than sufficient to deflect any further interest from a gang of thugs with knives.” He snipped. Freyr stepped in next. “Mr...Xandrus, is it? I’ll thank you not to just wade in like that. I am standing here, in the room, with you. I don’t even recall asking for a lawyer?” She was getting a bit annoyed with this awkward man already, however outwardly charming he appeared.

Masgard issued a supplicate nod. “Yes, of course ma’am. You didn’t call for me; the administration appointed me to serve you. And I'm afraid there will be instances where I have to intervene. Pursuant to Article 13 of our legal agreement with the Rothians, ‘ad-hoc’ security arrangements for critical Human personnel like yourself need additional sign-off by the Outremer Security Council. The Executive Vice-President has given emergency authority to me until they sit tomorrow morning, for which I have their stamp.” He fished a small holo-chip out of his pocket, which beamed a complicated, single use sigil onto the ceiling of Freyr’s apartment.

Freyr nursed the bridge of her nose with one hand, arms crossed. She felt the effects of the powerful medication she’d taken earlier rapidly wearing off. It felt as though her feet had been planted in thick mud. “Ok. So what is the plan then? Am i just to stay here?” Masgard nodded. “For tonight, that’s the plan. There are two dozen police officers in or around the block; you’re totally safe. In the morning, I'll liaise with Babylon law enforcement and Rothian peacekeepers on your behalf, to discuss what risks still remain to your safety.”

“I see...Well, in that case, thank you both for your very generous offer.” Freyr tried to smile at the two very polite aliens, one sitting and one standing. “But it seems i’m well taken care of here.” Freyr desperately wanted to talk more through their shared musings on the Cradle, but this obviously wasn’t the right time. “Perhaps we can chat further about what happened in the Cradle tomorrow, once you’ve been...stitched up?” Freyr offered.

The Cradle

Freyr nodded shakily. “I’m glad.” She stopped, not quite sure what to say. Masgard jumped in. “You seem tired, Dr Lang. Now we’ve checked in, we can get out of your w-” Freyr piped up again, remembering what she wanted to get off her chest before the Rothians were shooed away. Masgard blinked a few times, licked the back of his bottom lip and regarded Freyr with a very serious expression. Something akin to brotherly concern perhaps? Freyr didn't know, she was an only child.

“I’m grateful to...whoever that was...who got me out of there to safety. I just wish you hadn’t got hurt in the process, Vreta. As far as i know, i’ve done nothing bad to anyone. I think the Skinners must have found out where I work and…” Freyr trailed off. “Did we capture them? The people who did this?” She turned to her new lawyer. “Yes, I believe we have all of them in custody now. The ones your friend left alive, that is.” Masgard confirmed, stealing a glance at the two Rothians. “Oh, fuck…” Freyr murmured, running a hand through her hair; it probably needed a wash.

“Can i, uh, offer you guys something to drink? Water, juice?” She asked, casting her eyes around everyone in the room. Masgard shook his head, still pinning her with an intense stare. There was a large part of her that just wanted to curl up and forget about all this until the morning. However, there was another, supremely inquisitive part of her that wanted to know more. “I would love a water.” The police woman surveying the park through a slit in the armoured window plating called, looking backwards. Freyr nodded, walking toward the kitchen area. “Ok. Anyone else? Please take a seat guys.”

The Cradle

Masgard listened to Vreta’s brief recount of events, eyes wandering gradually to the alien’s injuries. “Understandable. However I must remind you that as you’re not formally affiliated with Rothian peacekeeping forces here on Outremer, I'm allowing you here purely as a professional courtesy. To verify the wellbeing of an...acquaintance. Any talk that might compromise my client’s mental wellbeing will not be allowed.” Masgard crammed into the elevator after the two Rothians and hit ‘doors close’.

Five police officers with compact SMGs stood guard on the seventh floor. They recognised Masgard’s authority, and nodded him through once he’d quickly explained the situation. He stopped the two Rothians at the door. The officer standing in front of it eyed the two aliens suspiciously, before eventually calling to the officer inside the apartment with a code word. They opened it from the inside. “I’m just going to talk to my client first, then i’ll let you in.” Masgard stepped into a dark apartment.

At first he couldn’t see anything, except a small fountain of sparks in one corner of the room. After a moment, he could see a police woman securing a flexible sheet of strong alloy to the last uncovered window pane in the living room. “All done in here. You can turn the lights on now.” She announced, getting up from her knees and dusting off her hands. Masgard fumbled for the light switch. When the lights eventually came on, he found a person matching the description of Dr Freyr Lang sitting curled up in an armchair nearby. She looked exhausted.

Masgard approached the woman. “Hello, Dr Lang? I’m so sorry to bother you at a time like this. My name is Masgard Xandrus, I'm your new legal representation, spokesperson and general lackey.” He smiled. “I was meant to come in the morning, but I was brought down here tonight to chaperone some Rothians who would like to check you’re OK. Would you like to see them? You can say no.”

Freyr, who’d been staring blankly into space while the police woman went about her noisy and intrusive job, turned her head slowly to face Masgard. “Is Vreta alive?” Masgard nodded. “Just about, he’s outside.” Freyr’s face animated slightly. She nodded. “Bring them in.” Her first reaction upon being confined to her apartment had been confusion and anger. When the police had arrived to protect her she’d flown off the handle at them. That initial energy had subsided after a little while, giving way to exhaustion; it’d been a very long day. However, hearing Vreta hadn’t died tonight had given her a little boost. She’d been starting to weigh up her feelings of guilt for his potential demise.

“Great. For the purposes of legal proceedings, I'd recommend you say as little as possible. If anything they say makes you feel uncomfortable, just say and i’ll ask them to leave, alright?” Freyr nodded, managing to stand up. Masgard went and opened the door, and the two Rothians sloped in. Freyr couldn’t contain her shock at the sight of the Rothian she recalled as Vreta based on his stripes. He looked like he’d been put through a combine harvester. Freyr covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her surprised cry. “Vreta, i’m so sorry...what happened out there? It all happened so quickly, I'm still trying to process…” Freyr trailed off.

The Cradle

The sergeant looked uncomfortable with this new information, his eyes darted between the two Rothian figures. “I’ll need to make a call.” He said eventually, actually a bit stuck on who would be the best person to call. “No need, I'm right here.” A voice announced. The sergeant looked to his left and found a tall, bearded, smiling young man in a finely tailored suit of what looked to be the latest fashion. “Masgard Xandrus, civilian liaison for the Outremer administration. Very pleased to meet you..” Xandrus extended his hand for them to shake, apparently completely unfazed by Vreta’s condition.

“I have to inform you that pursuant to Article 12 of Outremer Integrated Law Enforcement Regulation 43-5372, all further communications between any foreign parties and Dr Freyr Lang must come through me. As of five minutes ago, I am her legal representation and public liaison. I regret to say, any information you share with or learn from my client, without my knowledge or involvement, will contravene our shared law enforcement framework. I also reserve the right to terminate contact between foreign parties and my client at any time. With that in mind, i'm told you wanted to go inside? We can do that in accordance with Article 2, 99-1789, to confirm the safety of my client, and take a statement from both of you. Sergeant, would you please open the doors?”

The sergeant nodded, his HUD confirming that operational authority of the site had indeed been transferred to the fast talking fixer. “Open her up, boys!” He shouted into the hotel lobby camera, and the roller shutters began moving. “Please, after you.” Masgard encouraged.

Juicing up my Muse!

Welcome to the Guild, May! Hope you have an amazing time; let me know if you need anything.

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Hey there :) Welcome to the Guild! Let me know if you have any questions.

The Cradle

The agent sighed. “Very well. I suppose we’d better get this over with.” She could see and hear a host of other vehicles arriving, and could guarantee at least some of those were journalists from Outremer media outlets. As much as she wanted to play for more time, she also did not want to make matters worse by being plastered all over the news. She let the Rothian peacekeepers gently guide her into the back of the dropship, sending one last message via implant. “Five Nine Five, going dark. I delayed them as long as I could.” Then she stepped inside the dropship and it’s signal dampeners cut her link to the outside world.

---

The veteran police sergeant in charge of securing the VIP’s residence did not know exactly what was going on. Not even close. But he did know this had black ops skulduggery stamped all over it. So far, he’d been given orders by an individual his HUD had identified as a ‘Tier 2 Specialist Consultant - Obey All Commands’. The redacted name, the vague role description and high authority combination was not something you saw every day. The woman was practically a ghost in the machine.

As if that wasn’t enough, he had Rothians running all around the place as well. He shared an opinion with many in Outremer’s law enforcement agencies that an advanced and quite unnerving alien race shouldn’t have been given any say in keeping the peace. The Rothians had introduced a lot of red tape, which had made a lot of his colleagues afraid to stand up to them, for fear of making mistakes that could ‘damage species relations’. The sergeant though, knew which side he would be taking in this particular matter. And that was the ‘Specialist Consultant who had ordered the other half the team up to guard the VIP and his half to guard the perimeter. The fact that she had seemingly been coerced into the Rothian drop ship right in front of him was neither here nor there. The orders were ‘No one one, no one out.’

So when the two Rothians approached him, one with seemingly catastrophic injuries, the officer drew himself up to his full height and fixed his jaw. “That may well be, but i’m gonna need to ask you to stay put for the moment, gentlemen. We’re under strict orders not to let anyone in or out at this time.

The entire park and the roads next to it were awash with red and blue police lights now, and at least a dozen search lights combed the greenery from above. The sergeant had got the heads up a few seconds ago that two more Skinners had been apprehended leaving the park, and were being taken to the station. Now the main thing was controlling the media and rolling up this crime scene. This became even more evident when a camera drone flew in close behind the Rothians, its lens taking in their conversation. “This is a no-fly zone! Take that drone out of the air!” The sergeant yelled over the Rothians’ shoulder at a collection of officers directing police forces from consoles laid out across the bonnet of a police truck.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

---

As soon as the rockets hit, warning lights erupted across the width of the pilot interface console. Urgent alarm sounds blasted in Tar’s ears as she wrestled with the controls to bring the Phantom level again. “We’ve lost drive number one, and I'm getting a lot of vibration in number two!” Vol shouted over the din. Tar felt her stomach lurching as the Phantom span around in the air, heading for the side of the tall Forerunner structure. "Get me more power from somewhere, now!” Tar ordered, pulling the steering as far to the right as she could. "My console isn't responding. Power capped at 40%!" Vol reported through gritted mandibles.

The Phantom crashed against the side of the Forerunner tower and scraped along it, sparks skittering off the top of the hull. The alloy sides screeched and buckled until suddenly they were free of the tower and spinning again. Tar could see hostiles running to get out of the way as the Phantom gradually lost altitude; they couldn’t stay level on just two engines. “I have this now. Brace for impact!” Tar shouted, doing her best to hold it upright as the Phantom span toward a flat area packed high with crates.

The drop ship’s aft section hit the deck first, sending up another shower of sparks and ship fragments. The front soon followed, with the forward plasma cannon snapping off and cartwheeling to one side. Still slowly spinning, the Phantom’s bow ploughed into piles of crates, sending them flying. With the controls now useless, Tar put her arms over her head and crunched up into a ball in her seat. It was a good thing she did, because hidden behind the stacks of cargo containers was a much more solid object. A row of Forerunner columns, sticking from the base plate.

The Phantom hit the columns at speed, its rear end jumping up in the air. Everything in the cockpit seemed to come loose and fly about. Something solid whacked Tar in the stomach, forcing all the air from her lungs. As her arms instinctively flinched to her chest, another piece of metal flew from the console and smashed into her face and everything went black.

The Cradle

“This is unbelievable!” The agent scoffed as the imposing Rothian peacekeeper administered the charges, shaking her head in derision. “You must know these frankly insulting charges won’t stick, right? I physically extracted a VIP from a dangerous situation, whoever the target was. I’m really sorry they attacked you, I am, but holding me hostage won’t track down the people who did this.”

One of the police officers co-ordinating the perimeter around Freyr’s apartment building jogged over at this point, perhaps drawn by the raised voices. “Everything ok, ma’am?” He asked, eying up the monolithic alien forms. “Yes, everything is fine, thank you.” Five Nine Five turned and smiled at the officer, disarming him. “Please return to your post, and remember, let no one in or out. There could still be Skinners nearby.” The officer nodded, eager to get his own back against the terrorists.

Five Nine Five turned back to face Vreta’s disfigured form. “What do you say? Shall we work together? Catch whoever did this to you.”