Cath

The Cradle

“It’s impossible to say for sure we’ll be safe with any number of people” Freyr replied, combing a hand through her silver-streaked hair. “We’ll need to run some tests on our environment as soon as we’re inside...From the last encounter, it looks like we have a minute or so to get out while it shuts down; that’s unlikely to change much. But the overall runtime the creature can support may be reduced with more people. We only had ten people last time - it’s probably quadruple that amount now. Then there are the collateral programs this entity keeps; the ‘payload’... The best answer i can give you right now is that we’re about to find out how safe it is - that's one of the mission objectives.”

The Cradle

”Let me send a few people down there. They’ll keep this thing for themselves otherwise. You heard her yourself!” Freyr privately pleaded with the Agent, who was hovering out of sight for the holo. 595 looked conflicted, and for a moment Freyr thought she might walk off altogether, but she replied after a moment or two. “Very well. How many are going into the sim?”

”Twelve, six are monitoring from outside. It’s all in the mission spec.”.

595 nodded slowly, giving her the green light. Freyr turned her attention back to the exchange just when her name was mentioned.

“Would a single squad instead of two decrease the risk of any adverse effects, Dr Lang?”

“Well, yes, but there are sti-”

“Excellent, that’s settled then. Now, it's my understanding that the treaty-”

Freyr gritted her teeth, irritated at the erosion of her perfectly tuned plan. She counter-interrupted Andersen, resolving to let nothing else delay the launch.

“It’s alright, Captain. We can change some things around and send five of my team down to the FOB. Does that work for you, Datius?” Freyr then pointed at one of Andersen’s junior staff. “You - can you find a shuttle for my people please? Now.” It seemed everyone responded to the change of tone in her voice, as the holo-table exploded into activity around her.

The Cradle

Freyr couldn’t think of a plausible answer. Her mouth hung slightly open as she tried to come up with an excuse. Of course it would’ve been preferable to work with Marae and her team in person; Freyr had read of the Rothian lead scientist’s exploits in university. They hadn’t had loads of time to chat yet, but this expedition would hopefully change things.

But she didn’t need to answer right away. Freyr grimaced when the Datius made some point about Rothian military might. Andersen was obviously a prideful person deep down, because she bristled at the mere thought of her soldiers being excluded. Freyr supposed Andersen's explicit remit may have been to spread awe and admiration for Outremer’s state of the art war machine.

“With all due respect, that’s not part of our deal. We’ve agreed to equal policing of these objects. It’s my job to ensure everyone gets out safely, and I can’t do that without boots on the ground.” The Captain turned to Freyr. “It’s non-negotiable.” She then turned back to Rareth.

“And i don’t think you realise Datius, how much our government has invested in this mission already. If Dr Lang wants to conduct this mission from aboard the Barbarossa, she has every right. Hell, she could say we’re conducting it from the Rings of Saturn and I’d plot a course right now. But I can’t allow anyone to delay this venture any longer when we have a perfectly viable config right now. It’s just too important that we proceed quickly.”

Andersen paused, her stentorian voice echoing around the cavernous space. Freyr glanced around and noticed 595 fixing her with an unblinking stare. ”Do the right thing. Prove yourself to me. Maybe I'll let you all play together again soon.” The Agent sent the message directly to her implant.

Freyr moistened her lips before rejoining the exchange. “It’s worth noting too, that the majority of our team will actually be entering the simulation. Our mobile command centre will allow us to monitor harness connections, sensory data and signals from the host with minimal latency.” She daren’t provide any more emphasis, but hoped that they’d get the idea.

The Cradle

At that moment, Freyr saw 595 jump from the cab of the leading troop carrier. The Agent flexed her shoulders and slowly cracked her knuckles as a dozen bulky troopers filed past her. When she saw Freyr looking, 595 blew a theatrical kiss before grabbing a small container of dark red clay from her suit. She watched distastefully, transfixed, as the Agent gathered some of the mixture on her fingers and then smeared it carefully down her face in a disturbing warpaint pattern. Why did this woman, supposedly a government employee, engage in such an archaic practice?

Freyr thought quickly how she could alert the Rothians of her plan without being detected.

“I don’t see the problem, Datius. We have the technology to collaborate remotely-” Andersen motioned to the massive holo-table the Rothian was standing on, in miniature. “And you’ll be meeting up in person once the expedition starts. It’s only temporary, you understand.” Her tone was cordial, diplomatic, and made it clear the matter was closed for her. “I’m looking forward to seeing this thing in action!” Andersen motioned to the mobile lab next. “I hope it justifies the effort of getting it from storage at such short notice.”

“Thank you Captain, we all appreciate your dedication. But I must recommend we keep the number of bodies that enter the sim down to a minimum.” Freyr answered hastily, eyeing up the panoply of military personnel taking positions by the harnesses. “Each of them will require extra energy for the entity to generate, and from what we know so far, will likely attract more attention to us.”

The Captain watched her levelly. “Outremer is now giving this mission the gravity we know it deserves. I’m putting Lieutenant Kwanele in command of my marines and the Sacred Band. They will be responsible for the protection of your team and Agent 595.” Freyr felt her cheeks flush. “Captain, if we run into trouble, we can all extract before people get hurt. Adding this protection may have the opposite effect!"

The Cradle

Freyr smiled sympathetically at the soldiers that towered over her. They looked well rested, considering they’d stayed up all night with Memnon. Their eyes looked aged though, like they’d seen a millennia of sorrow. It made her wonder how many times they’d had to attend the vigil before.

“Sorry, one sec.” Freyr paused the audio on her video call with the Datius before answering them. “Are you sure you’re up to this? You’re allowed a day off.” Thebes grimaced. “Not a chance, ma’am. This is far too important.” Freyr nodded appreciatively. “It certainly is...Tech 52 will get you strapped in.” She pointed a slender finger at a bright yellow drone, hovering above some of the harnesses.

Dr Lang turned back to Rareth’s holo. She briefly considered just telling her the main reason why, but didn’t know who might be listening. Hopefully she could read between the lines. “Owing to the urgency of our investigation, I've gained clearance to modify a trillion-credit mobile research command centre. One of only three in the galaxy, it’s now ready for the new language we found inside the sim. It’s also been violated with certain military modifications, on the insistence of our Captain. The camera doesn’t do it justice, but It’s much too large to deploy from FOB - we have to coordinate from a cargo bay right now.”

Movement on the corner of her vision distracted Freyr momentarily. The large doors to the bay had rolled back, and two military transports were now rolling into the space. Leading them was an open top buggy, crewed by Captain Andersen and a few senior crew members. Freyr turned back to Rareth hurriedly. “As for the scanner, i don’t think i can swing a trip to the surface right now. Things are a bit...tense. You’ll be able to ask the Captain yourself if you like.”

The buggy stopped nearby and Andersen marched stiffly over with her aides. She noticed the Datius’ holo and addressed her first. “Datius. Have you briefed Dr Lang already?” She looked at Dr Lang. “Two dozen marines have volunteered for this mission. Can I ask you to use them?”

The Cradle

The academic in Freyr relished the idea of getting a better view on her brain. For the purposes of our expeditions into this unknown object, but also for her own interest. She suspected a few members of our team would also be similarly interested. They’d heard about the advances of Rothian instruments the same as her; some had begun grumbling about the lack of access they had to those tools now.

“Thanks. Yes, it would be good to have that scan. Can you get the equipment up here quickly? I want to begin the exercise as soon as possible.” Freyr was standing in a yawning hollow near the Barbarossa’s cargo bays. Harsh white lights shone down on a grid of insertion harnesses, metal shelves of equipment and a hulking mobile lab on six hydraulic legs. Bots floated around, carrying items and making changes to connections; they’d built the entire array to spec from the main lab in a matter of hours.

Most of her team were already down here, either manning stations or huddled around a holo-collab table with the Rothian scientists. Military personnel had stayed away purposefully until the all clear from their Captain. But that must have been given now, because Freyr spotted the Sacred Band filing in. They clanked over to her, visors up. “Good morning, ma’am. Where would you like us?” Thebes asked.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar accepted the proffered metal canister with a grunt and studied it distastefully. She knew a lot of her family and friends back on Brissekh would’ve been angry at the mere gesture. However, it seemed spending so much time in Paxopolis had begun to change Tar’s perception. Medicine and doctors were in bountiful supply there, and the Arbiter’s robust lobbying for the preservation of Sangheili life made some sense. They were not as strong as they once were; they could no longer afford to throw their lives away over their honour.

Tar hung back for a few seconds and let the rest of the team file past toward the waypoint. She then injected the contents of the canister into the back of her leg - the one that had been shot. She then quietly rested the empty shell on top of a crate and jogged to catch up with the rear of the group.

---

Once the lift had come to rest on the vast platform and the target was marked, Tar wasted no time in springing into action. Her pistol wasn’t effective at the kind of range needed to take out the leader, but there were closer hostiles that needed dealing with anyway. Most were rushing to evacuate, but some did stop and begin shooting at them.

Tar surged off the lift and towards cover at top speed. Her stolen pistol was enveloped in both hands as she emptied her magazine suppressing as many of the rebels as she could. Upon reaching a wheeled trolley of heavy equipment, she savagely kicked it towards a gaggle of enemies in riot gear, sending them running to get out of the way.

The Cradle

“I’m not sure any amount of explanation will help…” Freyr muttered, glancing again at the Agent.

What Marae said next excited her greatly, but Freyr did her best to maintain an equal tone. This wasn’t the expedition’s main objective. “A noble endeavor. Let me know if you require assistance; it’s something of a specialist subject for me.

---

The two science teams pushed on with preparing for a second insertion, including the set up of a tandem link between the object, the FOB and the Barb. The enormous computing power at their disposal allowed for seamless virtual collaboration and analysis between the two labs. The majority of this to and fro centred on discussing the best way to approach the ancient entity, but a multitude of side projects were simmering away on the fringes too.

However, the timeline was thrown into disarray when Captain Andersen informally requested a short postponement. She was obviously reluctant to submit state of the art military hardware contained within her soldiers to any scanners apart from her own. Freyr tried to explain that Outreman infantry likely possessed nothing the Rothians already knew about, but Andersen maintained that clearance was required from Fleet Command.

While Dr Lang theoretically had discretion on all scientific activity, they were guests aboard the Barbarossa. It would have been the height of bad form to press ahead with the plan, so Freyr reluctantly acquiesced, after stressing the very short timeline everyone was working to. The Captain sympathised, but maintained her need to follow procedure.

So Freyr gritted her teeth and pressed her team to work with the info they had until things played out.

The Cradle

Freyr sighed, before looking at the Agent again while Marae turned her attention elsewhere. 595’s eyes had narrowed slightly. ”Hey, i tried! Marae is sort of correct.” Freyr protested. The black-clad spook folded her arms and assumed contrapposto, thinking for a moment. ”The Captain will have something to say about this. I’ll have her talk to the Datius. Let's put this science class on ice until it’s resolved.”

”That’s not your call.” Freyr retorted, but she hesitated. Would the Captain actually have and objection? It occurred to her that several of the military types attached to the scientists might have hardware in their heads that they might not want to reveal. Although she had operational control of the expedition, the Captain could veto the use of Human protection while in the simulation if she wasn’t satisfied.

Freyr turned quickly back to the holo after her retort, determined not to acknowledge the daggers 595 was throwing from her eyes. She fully realised the risk she was undertaking now, but wouldn’t surrender her one true piece of influence - executive without a fight. She focused her attention on answering Marae while the Agent got in contact with Captain Andersen.

“Alright, yes. Let’s attempt to open a dialogue. But if it proves unresponsive there’s no time to waste. We can insert the lab but leave it dormant until we need it.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar clattered to the floor as the Brute Chieftain slumped on top of her. She roared, thrashing about wildly, eventually levering the giant corpse over onto its front before scrambling to her feet. She quickly surveyed the field, and gradually stood down when she was confident the threat had passed for now. Her leg protested; the background level of pain she could feel hidden in her armour was gradually increasing. She gritted her mandibles together and tried to ignore it.

A waypoint appeared in Tar’s HUD, and she fell in behind the Spartan team leader as they moved toward it. On the way, she discarded her spent Mauler for an M90 shotgun from one of the warped crates. Tar ripped the fingerguard clean off the weapon to accommodate her Sangheili digits before bringing the gun to her shoulder. Not long after, she stooped to grab a pistol from the belt of a downed insurrectionist with her off hand, eyes constantly scanning for hostiles.

Tar peeked into the small room the team’s AI led them to, before standing alert behind some crates outside it. The rest of the team arrived, announcing beforehand so as to avoid attracting friendly fire. Tar greeted them with a cursory nod, checking them out for gear and equipment until the AI revealed they were short on time. “Our quarry flees! We should hunt them down.” She snarled.