I just finished reading the book Halo:Cryptum, and I'm pretty sure that the "watchers" are a forerunner single occupant vehicle called "War Sphinxes". They were used on the ground and in space, and were also used for a very long time. They can also be piloted by forerunner AI/Autopilot. They were called "war sphinxes" in the book because they would remind a human of the Sphinx. Not sure what the other thing is, maybe something like an engineer