Cath

The Cradle

Freyr chuckled, running a hand through her hair. “It’s okay. I’m only joking.” She glanced behind Vreta again and almost betrayed an expression of complete shock at what she saw. Both Kalax the Ambassador and 595 were looking at her now. They were both facing the same way, their left side to her and their backs to the majority of the group. Kalax was subtly sticking his rear out and had an index finger stuck against his pursed lips in a ‘sshhhh’ motion. 595 was gyrating slowly up against him, gently patting his behind with an impish grin on her face.

“I have some ladies evening wear you can borrow. I import the latest sartorial vogue from Outremer and other Human colonies.” Kalax joined their private comms. “Kalax and I will chaperone you lovebirds on your date, now we’re all firm friends.” 595 added. WILL YOU TWO BEHAVE?! Freyr mind-shouted, before hurriedly smiling at Vreta as he began to turn to where she kept glancing, presumably catching on that she was preoccupied. “Ok, that does sound lovely! I think the meeting is well and truly over.” Freyr said, feigning a good look around the room.

595 and Kalax were closest, deep in conversation, as were most of the other delegates. “Do you want to go soon? I can be dismissed and we can set off now if you like.”

The Cradle

“Yeah, gorgeous.” Freyr murmured, nursing a glass of water. She’d done a quick circuit of the room after the meeting had concluded, introducing herself to Kalax and a few of the Rothian researchers. Now though, she stood by the box containing the Phoenician Staff, a hand caressing the smooth wood as she gazed into the distance.

She looked at Vreta and laughed softly, searching his eyes for some kind of cue as to his meaning. “It sounds like you’re asking me out on a date, Vreta’Sori. I’ll have you know i’m a happily married woman. What’s this about?” She smiled, only half-serious; a nice dinner without the trappings of the Barb hanging around her sounded like a nice distraction.

”What did i tell you? The guy is obsessed.” A voice interrupted her tranquil mindset. Freyr glanced behind Vreta and spotted 595 looking at her while talking to the Security Council delegate. ”Are you listening in on my conversation right now?” Freyr shot back. ”It’s my fucking job to protect you, Dr Lang. May i remind you that everything we say and do on Rothia is recorded? That succeeded in sending a shiver down Freyr’s spine. “Perhaps we could arrange a private setting on the Barb instead? I don't want to intrude on Rothian social circles more than I need to.” She suggested to Vreta.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

---

Tar moved down the ramp into the belly of the installation with her new squad. As she wasn’t certain what kind of environment would greet them, she pulled out her sword and held it unactivated in the hand that supported her raised pistol. It wasn’t an ideal configuration, but at least now she could quickly pivot between medium and short range if needed. Tar didn’t know how the team operated, so she positioned herself in the middle of the formation rather than at the front as was her instinct.

They reached a chamber littered with debris, and she learned from the team’s AI of the situation. It seemed the team were entitled to an opinion on how to proceed, which struck Tar as odd. However, she wasn’t about to miss this opportunity to get into a position where she performed best. “I’m comfortable in close quarters. I will go right.” She volunteered, taking this brief pause to tap the magazine of her stolen Mauler, listening for an idea of the number of bolts still left.

The Cradle

“They were always likely to prefer a Rothian lab.” Said a person she hadn’t been introduced to yet on the group chat as soon as Marae mentioned it. From the comms signature, Freyr knew it was one Kalax Verengonig talking, Outreman Ambassador to Rothia. Freyr peeked down her side of the table and spotted a long, elegant man with an ‘asteroid belt’ physique that fitted the bill.

“But we have a state of the art Cradle lab on the Barb. We don’t need to integrate!” 595 retorted. “We might learn something, Agent. Make the call, Dr Lang.” Captain Andersen shot back.

“We’d be pleased to see your lab, and show you ours. I think between our two workshops we can find the right tools for the job.” Freyr replied out loud with a smile, trying to be diplomatic. “As for the experiment on Human DNA, it’s ongoing and inconclusive so far.”

The Cradle

“Urgh - talk about laying it on thick.” 595 sent in the Human delegation’s group chat while the Datius was talking. Freyr didn’t dare look to see if anyone outwardly responded to the quip. Looking at the towering alien figure, she thought the black-clad agent was the bravest person she’d ever met, even if she hadn’t said anything out loud. Freyr nodded at the Datius. “We can share that with you as a priority.” She answered, keeping her voice level and constructive.

“Am we alright to give them the DNA tests and language research?” Freyr shot across the private channel while the Rothian lead scientist was talking.

“Yeah that’s fine. Lets see what they come up with.”

“Yes, we could scarcely believe the results ourselves.” Freyr answered, looking across the line of lizardy faces hanging on her every word. “But we’ve quadruple checked now. It’s our belief that whatever is at those coordinates encoded your DNA with a message millions of years ago, in the hopes you would eventually find your way to the Cradle. I don’t want to overstep at this early stage...but it may even have given you some of the tools you needed to become an intelligent, dominant species from an early stage of your development.”

A reaction that Freyr didn’t quite understand rippled through the assembled Rothians. She pushed on, keen to finish what she had to say. “But yes, of course we can share this with you and welcome your new perspective in analysing the evidence. We’ll also share what we have on the Cradle’s language set once we’re set up in the lab.”

The Cradle

Agent 595 jumped in immediately after the large Rothian was finished speaking. “That won’t be possible at this time. The Cradle ecosystem is very delicate, and we can’t risk any potentially catastrophic outward interference. Even if it’s by accident as a result of our efforts on Rothia.” Freyr glanced at her before jumping in after. “However, we have made good progress in identifying when the Cradle jams signals and what that looks like on modern equipment. If we apply the learnings here, we might notice a pattern that betrays the presence of Cradle-tech?” 595 begrudgingly nodded her approval.

The Cradle

“Thank you, Marae’Ano. It’s good to meet you all as well. We’ve received a warm welcome on Rothia, for which we’re very grateful. As a token of our appreciation, please accept this humble gift, delivered on behalf of the Outremer administration.” Andersen turned in her seat and motioned with one hand. The silent soldier in the blue armour marched over to a side table between the two parties and carefully placed the wooden box they’d been carrying on it.

“The box was crafted by hand from a bough of the Threnody Root, a unique, protected tree system that grows in the caves of Outremer’s south pole. Inside, is the Phoenician Staff. Part of a collection, this staff was originally part of the engine casing for the first colonist ship to touch down on Outremer, three hundred and fifty years ago.” Freyr had heard of the Staffs. The colonial administration ordered their creation after the first contact ships were retired. They used parts, each with a unique documented story to tell from the journey across. She realised she really wanted to see it in person.

“Now, shall we get to the part of the meeting everyone is here for?” Captain Andersen grinned, drumming her fingers on the table in front of her. “Can you please bring up your latest scans of Rothia’s surface?” She asked the Rothian delegation in front of her. When a 3d model of the planet appeared in the middle of the table, slowly spinning, Andersen pulled a small hard drive from her chest pocket. She stood up and carefully slid it across the table. “Plug this in.”

Once the coordinates had been inserted, the double-sided hologram moved to one end of the table, so everyone could see. The viewpoint zoomed in on a one hundred mile square of the planet. A pulsing red dot appeared on the surface of the ocean, about fifty miles from the nearest landmass. “That...is where we should look first, ladies and gentlemen. We believe whatever our Cradle was trying to talk to must be at the bottom of the ocean, or inside the planetary crust. Any questions?”

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

---

Tar growled and let go of the grey Spartan’s arm. She felt slightly embarrassed for having not realised she may have been hurting the Human. She quickly rose to her feet and looked at the older, shorter Sangheili in red armour who was apparently addressing her. He was asking her if she wanted to fight with them. Tar briefly took in the aerial battle raging around the perimeter of the installation, with an asymmetric space battle wrapping up above, and made her choice. “I can fight. Tar ‘Mdalak, Special Operations. Reporting for duty.”

Tar pushed past the Elite in red armour and took a knee on the edge of the group, facing the ramp into the heart of the installation. She half raised her pistol and quickly scanned for any signs of lingering combatants. “We should get inside. We’re too exposed out here.” Tar recommended. She remembered from the half briefing she'd received on the mission that they were after a high-value target. Inside the structure was almost certainly where they'd be hiding.

The Cradle

Freyr recoiled slightly upon seeing the large, crimson-eyed and obsidian-scaled Rothian that stood between them and the entrance to the skyscraper. It was massive, probably around nine feet. Freyr wondered whether this imposing stature had been engineered, or whether Rothians just had a rather large variation in body types.

With her hair whipping about in the wind, Freyr watched the second craft’s doors as they opened to let the occupants out.

Captain Andersen was the first to appear, flanked on the right by a holographic representation of her XO. Freyr could see a small orb with multiple projectors floating in the middle of the man’s semi-translucent body.

On the captain’s left was another large object, that Freyr quickly made out to be a person covered from head to toe in light blue armour. They were tall, over seven foot, with broad shoulders. Like the looming Rothian welcome wagon, they didn’t hold a weapon. Instead, they carried a hefty wooden box of an exquisite design.

Behind these three, Freyr made out a smattering of the Barb’s other senior staff members and the Outremer Security Council delegate, most of whom she hadn’t talked to yet.

The two groups converged in front of the Datius, the captain nodding a greeting at Freyr. She was the one who spoke for them all, in the end. “Gladly. Please, lead the way.”

The Cradle

Freyr went with the flow through customs, taking her jabs and questions with a smile. She had been in multiple briefings with the captain and her senior staff, where they’d made it clear that they were guests on Rothia. If their hosts were keen to proceed through a rigamarole before ferrying them to their next destination, so be it. Eventually they were ushered into waiting shuttles and powered toward the surface.

Pretty much everyone packed against the windows and chattered noisily as Threria came into view. Freyr muscled herself toward a porthole next to Masgard and took in the long, non-linear skyscrapers and gorgeous mountains in the background. “So, have you brushed up on your Rothian law?” Freyr asked, pausing to watch his exquisite bearded face. He laughed. “Don’t get me started on Rothian law. I hope you’re on your best behaviour.” He wiggled his eyebrows, making her blush.

After a little while, Freyr felt the shuttle slow and they came in to land atop one of the city’s upper platforms. As they turned to park, she could see another shuttle close behind them, which must have contained the captain and her staff.