Crimson

Chrysalis crept around the corner of the hallway slowly, peeking her head out of cover to get a view of what was yet to come from the other side. So far, every time she had looked, there was a lack of anything in her way. The Changeling Queen still had her magic at the ready in case she were ambushed, but found herself being slowly drained in both energy and concentration while continuing down each lit hallway. The interior of, what she could only assume was a ship of some kind, was absolutely fascinating, and clearly needed to be studied at some point.

Just as she rounded another corner, a gasp escaped her lips as her eyes were locked onto what lay ahead. Before her was a collection of corpses of strange creatures that she had never seen before. They all wore some kind of grey uniform, and had no fur except for a few on the tops of their heads. The creatures all had four appendages, and were shaped like Minotaurs. Their faces, however, were all frozen in silent screams while they laid on the ground, their skin bulging outwards with a sickening blue tint.

The Queen examined the bodies for a few more seconds before looking up to see that they were all crowded against a large, metal door.

'They died trying to claw their way in,' she thought to herself, disturbed by the cruelty of their deaths.

Chrysalis slowly walked around the gathering of the deceased and kept her focus on the flickering hallway lights that continued around another corner. After the first few creatures, she had not seen any other signs of life, either current or previous, that lived in the structure. Eventually, she followed the lights to the end of one last hallway, where a set of doors, similar to the ones she saw earlier, opened up for her. The Queen swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat and stepped inside the small room. Before she could examine it, the doors shut behind her, and the Changeling could feel her weight shift as the floor began to rise.

Almost as soon as the feeling of ascension began, however, it ended, and the doors opened once more. When she stepped out, however, she was in a large, open room. Opposite where she stood were massive windows, easily taller than most creatures in the Everfree she had seen thus far. One of them, however, was sporting a massive hole. As she glanced around the room, she took in how foreign this place truly was. Several black rectangles were mounted above chairs that were clearly tailored for the dead creatures she had seen earlier. The metallic walls of the room were glowing with not only moonlight from the windows, but were also illuminated by faint lights that came down from overhead. At the end of a raised platform, one of the rectangles began to blink a light into the room before a cold, unsettling voice chimed around Chrysalis.

"G-G-Greetings," a male voice spoke from seemingly everywhere.

Chrysalis jumped back in shock and prepared an offensive spell.

"Who dares try to sneak up on the Changeling Queen!?" she shouted into the room.

"Unregis-is-is-istered life f-f-f-f-f-fffff-form, detected. Analyzzzzzzzing security-"

A burst of sparks from the ceiling cracked through the air above Chrysalis, causing her to fire off a bolt of energy towards the wall. When it impacted, the bolt ricocheted off the surface and blasted apart one of the rectangles that hung above the platform. Bits of glass began to shower the Queen as she raised a foreleg to protect her face. When the sounds died down, the strange voice spoke again.

"Err-err-error: security protocols have been corrupted-ted-ted-ted. Rebootiiiiiiiiiing systems."

The lights in the room died down for a few seconds as the air became still, as if some kind of sound that Chrysalis had tuned out had silenced itself. Almost as soon as the emptiness set in, a whining sound came from almost everywhere at once.

"Apologies for the malfunction," the voice came back in an unsettling monotone. "How may I be of service?"

Chrysalis looked around the room, trying to locate the source of the voice, before responding.

"Where are you?" she asked. "What are you?"

"I am UNSC A.I. SID 6206-9, but you may call me 'Sid'. And to answer your first question, I am in all the systems around you."

"What does that mean? What, systems, are you in?"

"All of them. I inhabit the ship's mainframe and manage all of the operations while the crew are unable to perform certain duties. At this time, however, I am only able to keep certain functions online, as a majority of the crew either died when we were attacked, or abandoned ship when the IInfinity was preparing to leave the collapse of Requiem."

While most of the words used by the voice seemed to fade into mere noise, there was one part that Chrysalis had focused on, and drove her to speak with "Sid".

"Did you say that this," she gestured around her, "is a ship?"

"Correct. This is the UNSC FRG-598, Pale Horse, one of the few Strident-Class Heavy Frigates that were dispatched by the UNSC Infinity over Requiem."

"Why are you spouting out useless information to me? I only asked if this was a ship," Chrysalis stated.

"I apologize. Several processing units were damaged during the battle, thanks to several Seraph fighters, and a large majority of my internal functions were either severely damaged or lost entirely. I am unable to identify the proper security protocol involved with unregistered life-forms, as well as how to lock down certain bits of information that you requisite. All I can do is keep the ship functioning and answer any questions you may have to the best of my knowledge."

Chrysalis paused for a bit when she heard that last part.

"So... If I were to ask you to... list any specifics about the ship's defenses..." she trailed off.

A series of beeps flowed through the air before Sid responded.

"This Strident-Class Heavy Frigate is armored with 60 centimeters of Titanium-A armor plating, and is equipped with four M870 Rampart 50 millimeter Point Defense Turrets, twenty M42 Archer Missile Delivery Systems, two M4093 Hyperion Nuclear Delivery Systems, and one Mark IV Heavy Coil 941BE6 Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. In the current state of Pale Horse, however, I am only able to keep the Rampart Cannons online and functional. The MAC gun will need to be repaired, as well as several magnetic alignments within the Hyperion silos. The Archer Pods, however, are ready for use at any time necessary. However, only a UNSC personnel may give permission for any weapons to be used outside of stationary defense."

"Can this ship fly?" Chrysalis questioned.

"In its current state, Pale Horse would need a small skeleton crew to work on restoring function to the main thrusters, as well as repairing the hull for interstellar travel."

"What if we only need to move it over the land? Or... at least to the opposite end of this forest?"

"Scanning..."

Chrysalis waited as "Sid" continued to stay quiet, while she placed her mind back into the Hive.

"My children," she spoke into the Hive, "I may have found a way to the Birth Lands after all. Its armor is thick enough to protect us from most of the monsters that lurk around us, and has means of defending itself."

An eruption of grateful cheers began to chorus in the Queen's mind before she spoke to them again.

"Even if it cannot move, we may be able to use it as a nest. Its imposing figure would discourage any who look upon it, and we would be free of worry for the majority of the Hive."

"Calculations complete," Sid spoke.

Chrysalis kept the Hive open as she spoke to the Intelligence.

"Well?" she asked.

"The ship will be ready in approximately six to eight weeks if I can manage to reroute enough systems."

The Changeling Queen smiled widely.

"Excellent."

"Would you like me to save your identification for easier access to data banks, should you have any questions, ma'am?"

"Yes, actually. I am Queen Chrysalis, of the Changelings."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"If you'll excuse me," she said, turning to the doorway, "I have some cleaning to do."