Warning! This story will have lots of swearing, violence, and blood/gore. If you don't like that, then this probably isn't for you and you shouldn't be reading this.
"Yes, I am Zero." = Regular speech
What is he up to? = Thoughts
"Where are you, young one?" = Telepathic speech
"Hello, I am your PDA." = The PDA is speaking
/Can you understand me?/ = Sign language
I don't take any credit, nor do I own Code Geass or Subnautica. This story is purely for fun and my entertainment only.
Ch. 17: Into Oblivion
When the two soldiers looked at each other, they immediately looked away. Eventually, Kallen reinserted herself back into the equation, but only said one last thing. "I think it would be best if we all gave each other some space and time to think. I… have a lot I need to think about and process."
It was quiet for a long moment. "Yeah." Suzaku agreed softly, but by the time he had said that Kallen had also left the base to go off somewhere. Possibly to follow after Lelouch, possibly to just go be by herself. "You're right." Having to take a deep look at himself and the path he had taken, Suzaku found it almost as painful and torturous as living sometimes.
The Honorary Britannian went straight towards his garden. Hoping that some hard work in the soil would help take his pain and stress away and help alleviate some of the anxiety he felt deep inside of himself.
. . .
By the time anyone was ready to even look each other in the eyes, days had passed. The Cyclops had been completed, and Lelouch immediately threw himself into his work on upgrading it as much as he could. From implementing a fabricator and medkit, to even adding a bed, growth beds, and some chairs to sit in while driving and manning the enormous vehicle. Even the paint job wasn't spared since one of the consoles on the inside had the option to change the submarine's color scheme. Something that normally wouldn't have been possible on Earth, but was apparently a cosmetic demand with Alterra here on 4546B.
Honestly, the sooner they got back to Earth the better.
Instead of being the normal metallic white color, the hull was instead a sort of soft light purple, almost like a lilac color or lavender. The secondary color was a stark black across the hull with occasional streaks of gold following the patterns of the black metal.
It certainly stood out in the water, but at the very least it wasn't an eyesore.
Once Lelouch begrudgingly gathered everyone together at the Cyclops the first question that came out of Kallen's mouth was about the color.
"Why did you make it look so girly?" The redhead asked, and it was clear what color she really wanted it to be by her next statement. "Why not make it red?"
"Because while the Guren is a nice shade of red the Cyclops didn't have the option of a good red color scheme without making it look like a huge eyesore." Lelouch stated blandly. The raven haired teen scrolling through the PDA as he spoke. "Originally I wanted it to be all yellow since its bright color would make it super easy to spot in the water, especially if we get deeper underwater and it starts getting darker. However, I couldn't handle the constant strain on my eyes when looking at it, so I figured a softer light color would be better, hence the lilac."
"Why not just leave it white then?" Suzaku finally spoke, and after a few seconds of awkward silence where the brunette was biting the inside of his cheek, Lelouch answered.
"It blended in too easily with the background from a distance." The genius pursed his lips in thought. "Besides, I wanted something other than the basic colors for a change." He admitted.
"And there it is. The real reason." Kallen said jokingly, but it fell flat in the awkward silence that followed.
Everyone was still thinking about the argument from a few days back. Nobody wanted to address the dead elephant in the room, but it was all anyone could think about.
"Look." Suzaku gave in first, and ran his hands over his helmeted head to grasp the back of his neck in anxiety. "I'll be the first to admit that some of the things I said were wrong. I was upset and just said anything in the heat of the moment to give myself an edge in the argument, and I'm sorry."
"But." Lelouch trailed off, still not meeting Suzaku's eyes and instead looking to the PDA. A cold expression on his face as he ignored Suzaku's pleading expression that quickly turned forlorn.
"I still don't know how to feel about all of this." Suzaku gestures broadly at everything as he speaks. "All of the circumstances that come between all of us once we get back on Earth. We all made some good points, and I see that it's clear now that none of us are going to budge on our stances no matter what the other says."
"Got that right." Kallen admitted with averted eyes.
"But right now we have a truce." Suzaku said as he slowly swam in front of Lelouch, forcing him to put the PDA down and meet the brunette's earnest gaze. "We all need each other to work together and get off of 4546B, to get back to our Earth. I don't know what I'll do once we get back on Earth, or what you'll decide to do for that matter, and I see now that I can't make you see things my way or do them how I want you to do them. If we have to fight…" Suzaku audibly swallowed. "... then so be it, but that's at a later date, for a future me. Once we go our separate ways on Earth the truce will be over, and that's that. Whoever gains victory back on Earth will have proved their point the right one."
"You're starting to lose me." Lelouch warned with unamused eyes.
"I'm asking if we can put this fight behind us and move on." Suzaku finished, nervously playing with his hands as a Bladderfish swam by and knocked into the nervous soldier. A smile twitched on Lelouch's lips in amusement as Suzaku jumped at the unexpected contact. "I'm willing to let this go until we get back home, we can argue about it back at Ashford. I see now is not the time for this. Any more fights about this will only fracture our ability to work together, so there's no point to it when working together is our only means of survival." Once he finished putting the Bladderfish into his bag, Suzaku slowly stuck his hand out towards Lelouch and Kallen. "So, truce?"
What a reversal. When at the beginning of getting stranded on 4546B it was Zero that came forward and pushed their hatred for each other aside to form a truce. It was now Suzaku doing the same thing. Pushing aside his own grudges and issues with the opposing enemy back on Earth to better ensure survival and victory. From being distrustful of Zero, of Lelouch's offer and honesty to being the one to go out on a limb and extend an olive branch of trust back.
It truly was an improvement of Suzaku's character. Something Lelouch seemed to have realized as he gave the smallest smile towards his best friend.
"Very well then." Lelouch agreed, and put his hand in the middle over Suzaku's own. "Truce." Dichromatic eyes looked deeply into Suzaku's own. "I forgive you, and I'm sorry for anything I said to you that hurt or offended you as well. It wasn't right of me to point out the similarities between you and your father. Especially when I knew it would still hurt you to mention it."
"It's okay." The instant forgiveness from Suzaku was like a soothing balm being placed over the group. Even to Kallen despite her silence from her inner thoughts running rampant inside her head. "I was being a real brat anyway." Both boys, having thrown their anger to the side, turned to the temperamental redhead herself with inquisitive eyes.
"I-" The Guren pilot cut herself off with a huge huff of breath and shook whatever negative thoughts that were still in her head aside. "The issue still hasn't been solved, and I'm still pretty mad about how easily you side with Brtiannia despite everything." Kallen said that specifically towards Suzaku, but her harsh features eventually mellowed out as if she were a deflated balloon. "But I agree with you that this talk can wait until we get back to Ashford. I'm with you." With that, she put her hand on top of the other two. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I said too about you being delusional Suzaku."
"I'm sorry for everything too." Suzaku apologized again, and after a moment everyone retracted their hands from the group huddle. The air between the trio once more clear of any tension and bitter spite. "Now, let's get a look inside this monstrosity."
"I know right!?" Seeing the clear change in subject, Kallen decided to jump along with it. Everyone swam towards the bottom hatch of the Cyclops to hop inside. "This thing is literally huge! No wonder we had to build it rather far from the Safe Shallows."
"It's going to be an absolute pain to drive." Lelouch bemoaned as everyone climbed inside. The revolutionary being mindful of his cape extensions while going up the ladder. "On the bright side, this thing is bigger than even the Reefbacks according to the PDA, so we should be safe from attacks by any Reaper Leviathans, or anything smaller for that matter." He almost stuttered at mentioning the Reaper, but just managed to hold himself together while saying that.
"Thank God-"
"Welcome aboard captain. All systems online."
"Woah!" Kallen exclaimed after being cut off. The deep masculine voice that rebounded throughout the entire sub catching Suzaku and Kallen's attention instantly. "That is a very different voice from the Seamoth or the PDA."
"Yeah, caught me off guard as well." Lelouch said as he helped Kallen up the last few steps of the ladder like the gentlemen he was raised to be. "But you guys go ahead and take a look around. I'll get the Cyclops started and start heading over towards the coordinates for the Sunbeam."
"Roger." Kallen joked as she and Suzaku took a look around the Cyclops, and while they were farther away from each other than usual the atmosphere wasn't tense in the slightest.
Without a doubt, the Cyclops was an amazing piece of technology in and of itself. Despite its size, it was clear Lelouch took every advantage of it and used all of the space that was available. The bottom of the Cyclops being filled with wall lockers all organized and labeled for certain things. Even looking inside them revealed that some of the lockers actually had some of its designated contents inside it already.
The place was beefed up like a mobile base.
The next room was obviously a holding bay, something that surprised both teens, but it was a great surprise for once. Kallen noticed the Seamoth being suspended above them first and nearly jumped with glee at the sight. Extending limbs from the Cyclops were currently working on her vehicle and repairing what Kallen couldn't see to the best of its ability.
"This thing can hold my Seamoth?!" Kallen yelled loud enough that even Lelouch could hear her from within the main deck. "That's so cool!"
"No wonder this thing is so big." Suzaku realized as he continued onwards. The next room revealing some plant life hanging off of wall pots and a few charging stations. Two battery chargers were hanging higher up on the wall while three powercell chargers were hung lower so that they were more easily accessible on one side. The other side showed an electronic picture frame displaying a cinematic picture of the Safe Shallows. Their base is barely visible in the background.
"Holy crap." Kallen said softly as they moved on. There was so much to look at it was clear Lelouch put a lot of work on every inch of the submarine. "Lelouch had to have worked his ass off to get all of this made in just a few days."
"Yeah. That habitat builder is definitely a game changer." Suzaku said dazedly. The two now moved to the top level of the Cyclops now just as the engine finally turned on. The knightmare pilot duo almost fell over as the submarine suddenly lurched into action and started moving forwards.
"Ahead standard." The Cyclops announced after the fact.
"It could've said that before moving to give us a warning." Suzaku grouched, somewhat miffed. Kallen only grinned impishly at Suzaku's response.
Once they had climbed up the ladder the two quickly realized that they had entered the engine room, and it definitely took up a lot of space. The engine itself was actually much smaller, sleek, and more compact than either of them had anticipated. Something they both appreciated since it was easy to walk around the engine. Multiple parts pumped and spun around as the Cyclops slowly but surely cut its way through the ocean. It would've been mesmerizing to watch if only they knew what parts served what purpose.
The next room was clearly the main room of the Cyclops, and it also housed the hatch that allowed anyone to enter the Seamoth and deploy it. There was a decoy launcher that currently had no ammunition inside it, but the possibilities lightened the group's heart even more. One side of the Cyclops had two growth beds that housed even more edible plants from the Floating Island. The other side had one double bed, a fabricator, a radio, multiple medkits, and a strange cube-shaped contraption that went up to the duo's waist.
"Hey Lelouch!" Suzaku called out to his best friend up front, the bulkhead door to the control room of the Cyclops being wide open for anyone to enter. "What is this thing?"
Taking a second to look back and see what the brunette was talking about, Lelouch quickly looked back in front of himself as he answered. "Oh, that's the modification station the PDA was talking about that we can use to upgrade our stuff."
"Really?" Kallen crouched down and got a closer look at the machine as it opened itself up once it sensed her presence. "It's so small though."
"I know." Lelouch agreed with Kallen's opinion. His cape extensions helped the revolutionary to maintain control of the Cyclops all at once. "You'd think we'd stop getting surprised at how refined and compact these machines are, but I certainly won't complain about it."
Otherwise there was a garbage can for trash and a counter to eat on. Yet, scattered through the Cyclops were more of the futuristic picture frames with their pictures brightly displayed inside. One showcased Lelouch in deep concentration while studying the scales he had obtained from the Reaper Leviathan. Another showed Suzaku's surprised expression as a Bladderfish swam right into the side of his helmet. A third showed Kallen looking over towards the camera curiously with a bit of cooked Hoopfish sticking out of her mouth. A fourth picture displayed the Suzaku and Kallen in front of the Seamoth, proud and pleased expressions on both of their faces.
"Woah." Suzaku breathed as he looked at each and every picture as if they were all a piece of modern art. "How did Lelouch even get these?" The brunette didn't even realize that Lelouch had been taking pictures this entire time.
Kallen blinked, and looked over at Suzaku, mystified. "You didn't know? The PDA has a camera option. I just found it one day while messing with the PDA." She shrugged her shoulders at Suzaku's expression. "While I didn't expect Lelouch to go this far with the feature he probably just uploaded these images from the PDA into whatever database the Cyclops uses."
"Huh, nice to know."
Once the two started heading towards the helm of the Cyclops Kallen almost did a double take as they finally made it into the control room. There in the back left corner of the room, just by the door, was a coffee machine.
The elated look on Kallen's face said it all.
"You've gotta be kidding me." She spoke as she rushed to the machine and immediately demanded a cup of the caffeinated, heavenly liquid. "You built a freaking coffee machine!?" Sapphire eyes shot over to Lelouch with such gratitude. "Lelouch!"
"I know." Lelouch agreed with a sagely nod of his head. The group ignoring the loud smack of a stray Biter fish getting run over. "I can't believe I've survived this long without a cup either. I already had one while you guys were looking around." Frankly, Lelouch was surprised the two couldn't smell the scent of caffeine that was wafting up in the air of the sub.
"Oh my God." Kallen bemoaned as the machine finished making her cup with a light, happy ding. Instantly she grasped the warm cup and took a swift drink of the beverage. "Mmm." The redhead closed her eyes and took in the taste and smell of a drink so closely related to home. "It's so good! I've missed this." Over Kallen's excitement, Suzaku silently started a cup up for himself too. The redhead even went so far as to walk beside and lean against Lelouch's side. A satisfied look glowing on her face as she smiled up at him. "Thanks a ton for this."
After taking a moment to look into Kallen's eyes, Lelouch couldn't help but avert his gaze as some weird, warm feeling soft brushed inside his stomach. "It was nothing." I'm not getting sick, am I?
"Good idea Lelouch." Suzaku agreed with a nod of his head. The soldier looked towards a holographic display of the Cyclops and its hull integrity. It even had a health bar on the top as if it was all a videogame. "You did a great job fitting the sub up with everything we'd need. I didn't even think about some of the stuff you added in."
"I'm good with lists." Was all Lelouch said as he deftly maneuvered the Cyclops past a herd of Reefbacks. His mind snapped back into the present at Suzaku's comment.
As Suzaku went back to grab his own finished cup of energizing brown liquid, Kallen went over to the design features console of the Cyclops. As she read the lines of code, a single eyebrow slowly began to rise. The Black Knight ace turned to Lelouch with a somewhat smug expression. "You named the Cyclops the Oblivion? Really? That sounds so edgy."
"I think it's a great name." Lelouch objected as his cape extensions bunched up in reaction to his embarrassment. "Seeing as if we don't get off this planet we'll be diving deeper into the unknown, the oblivion."
"Hopefully it won't come to that." Suzaku spoke over his drink as he stood beside Lelouch, Kallen joining them soon after. "Did you put the engine efficiency module in?"
Lelouch hummed in affirmation. "Yes, seeing as this thing is quite the power hog and requires six power cells to function I figured it'd be wise to put it in immediately." As they began to pass another group of Reefbacks, a sudden mischievous smile spread across Lelouch's face. He looked at Suzaku and grinned. "Hey, watch this."
With that, Lelouch placed his palm on the center of the steering wheel, and a loud horn blasted from the speakers hidden outside of the Cyclops. The sudden loud noise jarred Kallen and Suzaku from their places, and Suzaku nearly spilled his cup of coffee at the action.
"This thing has a horn?!" Kallen exclaimed and looked at the steering wheel with newfound appreciation.
"What the hell-" Suzaku cut himself off as a Reefback gave a loud, echoing cry in reply to the Cyclops' horn blasting. "Oh. Wow." He blinked. "That's actually pretty cool."
"Cool? That's amazing!" Kallen interjected as she watched the Reefbacks start making their way towards them. The redhead pressing herself up against the glass bulb of the Oblivion as she looked towards the gentle giants of the sea. "Do they think we're one of them or something because of the horn?"
"Probably not." Lelouch denied as the Reefbacks started to swim alongside the submarine. It certainly was a sight to behold, almost like swimming with whales. "I think the frequency of the horn is similar to the frequency the Reefback's use to communicate. While I don't think they believe we are similar they probably see us as an ally or friendly because of that frequency."
"Huh, neat."
"Not to burst this nice bubble or anything, but aren't we going the wrong way?" Suzaku spoke aloud as he watched them pass by the edges of a Creepvine Kelp Forest. "We're supposed to be going to the Floating Island right? Because if so, we're going the opposite way."
Lelouch suddenly snapped his fingers and pointed towards Suzaku. "That's right! When I looked at the coordinates given by Captain Quinn it wasn't until later on I realized that they point away from the Floating Islands."
"Then that means there is another island nearby?!" Kallen put the pieces together quickly, and Lelouch nodded right after. "Seriously? How the hell have we not seen it yet!"
"Beats me, but it probably doesn't help that most of the time we stay under the waves so we can't see it unless we're right in front of it." Lelouch added in as he guided the Oblivion over a rocky landmass flawlessly. Despite complaining about how hard it would be to pilot the Cyclops, Lelouch seemed to be doing a marvelous job at it.
"Hopefully this island is bigger than the last, and that it is actually connected to the ground instead of floating. I'd like something to be normal for once." Suzaku hoped, watching as the coordinates of their current position started to get closer to matching the ones given by the Sunbeam. "We should be pretty close now."
"Hey, look over there!" Kallen pointed out towards the left, and everyone's eyes followed the gesture.
What would normally be a blank, empty mass of ocean was actually dotted with land masses of varying sizes. Some were pathetically small, while others were so enormous they dwarfed the Oblivion in comparison. Two big land masses had a giant wreckage of the Aurora stacked on top of them as well. What was most unique about these land masses though was the fact that they were not connected to the ocean floor.
No, instead, they floated. The giant hunts of rock looked like they were frozen in time as they remained stationary in the strong waters as they suspended over the ocean floor.
"Interesting." Lelouch hummed as he began to lower the Oblivion further down into the ocean. The teen bent down slightly to look underneath one of the medium-sized islands. Lo and behold, latched onto the underside of the landmass were two enormous ancient floaters. "These are just like the other floaters that keep the very first island we saw floating. Curious that they are so separated from each other though."
"Erosion patterns on the landmasses suspended here suggest they once floated on the surface." The PDA practically confirmed Lelouch's suspicions with its own input.
"Wonder how they got here." Suzaku pondered as he watched the multiple Bone Sharks in the area scatter to make room for the Cyclops lest they get run over.
"Maybe a big storm blew the bigger island to where it is or something?" Kallen theorized with a tilted head. "There sure are a ton of Bone Sharks around here though, so maybe we should avoid this area if at all possible."
"Yeah." Suzaku agreed immediately.
"You're probably right." Lelouch nodded alongside his companion's advice. The flora and fauna all seemed familiar to things they had already seen anyway, so the terrorist lost interest in the environment soon after. "Those shriveled up rocky outcroppings on the tops of the islands all look like dead bulb bushes. Perhaps if I get a chance, I'll come back and study them and the islands further." Taking a moment to look at the coordinates and note them down, Lelouch began to raise the Cyclops up towards the surface of the ocean. "We should be pretty close to the island now, so it should be visible on the surface.
As the Oblivion breached the surface of the ocean, the group watched as the sea water effortlessly slid off of the Cyclops like it wasn't even there to begin with. Once their vision was cleared, the group instantly spotted the island looming in the distance tall and proud.
"I can't believe we were so blind as to not spot this giant island." Suzaku deadpanned with an annoyed frown on his face as he sat down in one of the three designated seats. The brunette chose the one beside the holographic display of the Oblivion while Kallen sat back in the other seat. Lelouch meanwhile, leaned against the steering wheel as they made their steady way towards the island.
"I'm just happy we're about to finally reach land again." Kallen added in her own two cents as she rested her head against one hand. "I miss the sand and grass, and I'm sick of having to constantly swim to move around instead of walking."
"I can agree to that." Lelouch muttered as he began to park the Oblivion as close to the island as possible without getting stuck.
They had finally arrived.
Once the raven haired teen finished shutting down the Oblivion and making sure it was parked properly Lelouch left the steering wheel to address his fellow stranded allies. "Alright, I hope you guys packed whatever you wanted to take with you for this trip, because it'll be our last one." He clapped his hands together. "Let's get on the island, take a look around since we have a couple hours until the Sunbeam arrives, and then wait for them to arrive."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go-!" Kallen began, only to be interrupted by a very familiar, haunting roar.
Everyone went dead silent within an instant. All three humans grew deathly still as they listened intently.
.
.
.
Another roar echoed out within the ocean, a fair distance away.
A Reaper Leviathan was nearby.
"Let's get on the island quickly." Kallen nearly wheezed in nervous fear, and both boys nodded frantically right after. The trio quickly made their way through the Oblivion and out into the open waters as quietly as possible. Careful not to make a sound as if that would cause the Reaper Leviathan to chase after them.
Surely the sheer size of the submarine would cause the Reaper to lose interest in attacking it, but that didn't mean the trio wanted to test that theory. It was only a theory after all, and they could always be wrong.
Lelouch, as always, was the first one to make it to the safety of the island thanks to the help of his cape extensions. As soon as he was able to grasp the sand, the revolutionary practically crawled out of the ocean and onto the beach of the island with a gasp of relief. Quickly moving to lay down and sprawl himself onto the warm sand. The heat from the sun and the sand helped to warm his bones from the normally chilly water.
Suzaku followed right after, following Lelouch's actions to lay out on the sand with a groan of satisfaction, happy for the respite from the ocean. Kallen shot out of the water with the help of her seaglide right after, and almost fell right on top of Lelouch if it wasn't for her quick maneuvers.
"Hey!" Kallen barked down at Lelouch, who just twitched one of his cape extensions in response to her raised voice. "At least get a little farther up shore before you lay down on the ground! I almost tripped.. on… you." Slowly, the redhead's criticism died on her tongue as she looked back towards the island. Her blue eyes widening in speechless shock as she lost the grip on her seaglide and dropped onto the dry sand below with a soft thud.
Seeing how Kallen went silent all of a sudden for no reason, Suzaku looked up from his position on the ground towards her. "Hey, are you oka-" He cut himself off, and soon he too grew tense and silent in astonishment.
Now that both of his friends had fallen silent, Lelouch finally gathered the urge to look up at whatever they're looking at. "What are you guys doing-" Then the revolutionary also cut himself off from whatever he was about to say. Not that it was going to matter anyway, because there was no way whatever he was going to say would've matched with what he was currently seeing.
Right beside the first tall, mountainous structure of the island was another very big and tall structure. Only, this one certainly wasn't naturally made, because it was definitely too rectangular in shape for that. From his angle, it looked like a giant skyscraper, except there were occasional rectangular protrusions coming out from the main building like it was a lego tower put together.
Yet, it wasn't man made either, because the building had that very distinct, and very familiar glowing green and metallic hue that came from the alien structure found back on the Floating Island.
Just great. Lelouch grouched darkly to himself.
"Detecting a massive energy signature in the region." The PDA stated out of the blue. "Cannot identify." Truly, it was a mystery how such an advanced piece of technology can at times also be so absolutely useless.
"Ugh!" Lelouch bemoaned as he made himself get up from the sandy floor. His legs shaking slightly after so long not walking on land, but he quickly evened himself out with the help of his cape extensions. "Not anymore of this alien shit. I thought we were over this crap!"
"Of course it's got to be on the island the Sunbeam is rescuing us on too." Kallen finally snapped out of her daze as she angrily kicked at the sand to help release her pent up frustration. "Hopefully they won't have too much of an issue parking their ship with that thing in the way."
As they were talking, Suzaku crouched down beside a rather big bulbo tree. The brunette took the time to look at the foliage scattered across the mountainous island. "Well, at least the island's plants are similar to the other one. Besides the giant alien base it looks like a normal island."
When the Britannian soldier looked back to the bulbo tree his face quickly morphed into horror as he saw a Cave Crawler slowly making its way up its arm.
"Holy shIt!" Suzaku screamed, his voice cracking in the process as the scavenger tried to bite into his arm, but failed thanks to the blaze luminous contained within the brunette's dive suit. With the instincts of a fighter, Suzaku quickly swiped the Crawler off of his arm before getting up and stomping right into the giant eye of the creature without mercy. A few seconds of stomping later, and the creature went lax. Its eye was destroyed and foggy as it lay there dead.
Over the exerted panting coming from Suzaku, Kallen and Lelouch bowled over, laughing hysterically.
"Did you hear that voice crack!?" Kallen bellowed as she tried to get air back into her lungs. "That was hilarious! Oh my God, I can't breathe!"
"Holy shIt!" Lelouch mimicked with rather disturbing accuracy, before both teens fell back into laughter again.
Meanwhile, Suzaku stood there, arms crossed and an embarrassed flush steadily growing on his face. After a moment he had enough of their antics. "Stupid Cave Crawler." He muttered as he turned tail and started to walk away from their laughter and towards the alien base. Clearly, they had a lot to explore before the Sunbeam arrived and had plenty of time to do so. Better to get it all done now rather than never.
Eventually, Kallen and Lelouch began to follow after him as their laughter died down and they regained control of themselves.
"Well, at least now we know to be wary of Cave Crawlers while we're here." Kallen said optimistically in an attempt to help cheer Suzaku up from his embarrassment. "If it had attacked anyone else we probably would've gotten bit."
"I do not want a chunk of my flesh to go missing." Lelouch shivered. His extensions covered himself as he remembered that dark time when they had first encountered a Stalker. "Not again, because that wasn't fun at all. I especially don't want to get whatever disease that one guy in Lifepod 12 had either."
"You and me both." Suzaku finally spoke to them in agreement. As he spoke, the soldier noticed a strange green, almost grainy film covering the entrance of the alien base. The development caused everyone to halt and prevented any exploration of the base before they had even started. "What is this?"
With a squinted gaze, Suzaku reached his hand out to touch it. The action causing Lelouch to stiffen and reach out towards the offending hand in panic. "Don't touch it!" He yelled, and the loud volume he spoke caused Suzaku to jump back from the entryway of the alien structure with a small yelp. Looking down, the teen found his hand wrapped up and pulled away by one of Lelouch's extensions.
"You didn't have to yell at me." Suzaku stated with an unamused look. The pilot's hand slowly being freed now that the danger had passed.
"I just didn't want you to touch it." Lelouch said as he took a closer look around the entryway's arch. "I think it's a forcefield. I'm just not certain if it just prevents anything from getting inside, or if it vaporizes anything it touches." Dual colored eyes narrowed towards a strange little pedestal besides the doorway. "Felt I'd rather play it safe just in case."
"Oh, yeah." Suzaku rubbed the side of his arm uneasily at the thought of getting vaporized because of a stupid mistake like that. "Thanks."
"Well, there has to be a way to open it." Kallen stated as she went over to some foliage and picked up a stray stick. Taking a moment to get in front of the door, the redhead threw the stick towards the barrier preventing them from entering.
Once the dead wood collided with the barrier, it flopped onto the ground, completely unharmed.
"And that answers our question about getting vaporized." Kallen gave Suzaku a single nod as she knocked one knuckle onto the barrier. She blinked. "Actually, that felt really weird. It's like something is there, but it didn't make a noise when I knocked against it as if I was just knocking on air."
"Really?" Suzaku stood besides the redhead and copied her. Getting the same results, the Honorary Britannian started leaning his entire weight into it, and while he managed to move it just a few inches it wouldn't budge any further. "That is so weird." He mumbled as he leaned back. "Makes me think of a trampoline. You can push the fabric a little bit, but eventually you can get any further and it almost bounces you back out."
"We're not going to be able to brute force it either." Kallen crossed her arms and jutted a hip out to the side as she thought aloud. "Perhaps we can cut the power connected to it somehow? This thing has to be getting power from somewhere. I'm sure we can find it and cut it with the laser cutter.
As the two plotted, Lelouch looked over towards the pedestal that had been left alone with intrigue. A strange buzzing noise softly ringing in his ears that the genius paid no mind too. This contraption felt important, a clue perhaps?
He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to investigate it.
The closer he got, the louder the buzzing. He couldn't hear Kallen and Suzaku talking anymore.
When Lelouch got close enough to the pedestal, some sensors must have felt his presence, because it started to transform. The pedestal raised itself slightly, and the metal on top of it folded back and slid down the sides as if to reveal a lock that required a key.
In the very center of what had to be the console for the door, was the engravings for the purple tablet the group had found back on the Floating Island.
"Start the test in two hours. Hopefully we'll finally be able to open the gate again and drag Zero out from where he's hiding this time." Everything sounded so strangely muffled all of a sudden. As if Lelouch had his ears stuffed with cotton for no apparent reason.
"Yes… Come find me... You are getting closer, young one." Lelouch felt a single small tendril land on his left shoulder-
"Lelouch?"
Blinking rapidly, Lelouch shook his head rapidly to clear it of any fuzzy static before looking back towards Kallen. The girl's single hand had a steady grip on his shoulder as he looked at it and then back to her.
"Yes? You were saying?" He asked. The raven haired teen's head cleared once more and back in sharp focus as if nothing had happened.
An unsure expression spread across Kallen's beautiful features, but she quickly smothered it to ask her question again. "I was asking if you thought about bringing that purple tablet with us? I for one didn't think about bringing it." Wondering what she was talking about, Lelouch looked towards the PDA Kallen had somehow taken from his bag without him realizing and looked at the new data bank entry on it. She must've scanned the thing while he was zoned out in his own thoughts.
"Forcefield Control Terminal
This device matches no known technologies, and is likely alien in nature." Yeah, no shit Sherlock, that much was clear. "Power is being routed via the terminal to the nearby forcefield. The technology is far beyond anything encountered before by the federation. Nonetheless there is a good chance it functions like a regular lock, and only requires the correct kind of key."
"I can't believe that thing is only used as a key." Suzaku added in as he got a closer look at the console controlling the door. "I mean, that thing is way too big to be just a key!"
"Yeah, yeah I brought it." Lelouch nodded, and dug into his bag for a moment before cursing. "I must've left it back on the Oblivion, I'll go get it real quick. I'll be right back."
"Okay." As she watched Lelouch head back towards the Cyclops, Kallen's mind went back to the dangers lurking beneath the waves. "Be careful!" Lelouch raised a single thumbs up in response, dived back into the water, and was gone right after.
Once the bubbles had cleared from his vision, Lelouch immediately took off towards the Oblivion again to obtain the purple tablet. The genius had swam almost half way when a flash of purple entered his vision, and Lelouch ground to an abrupt stop. The revolutionary's cape extensions flared out in case he either needed to fight or swim back to the island quickly.
Lelouch inhaled sharply as a strange creature slowly swam out from behind the Oblivion, fully revealing itself. The creature was mainly purple, with a translucent, gel-like pale blue body. He couldn't get a good look at its front since the creature had its back turned to him and was instead investigating the Cyclops, but that was fine with him. The thing's head was round and flat, with two small sacs flaring out periodically behind it. The creature's scales looked very thick, and its design almost made the creature look like it was wearing a cloak over its body instead of being a part of it. The bottom of its body had four purple scaled tentacles, and two pale blue ones that had visible bright pink, bioluminescent veins pulsing within them.
As if sensing it was being watched, the creature slowly turned around.
Lelouch stiffened as its four small eyes all gazed directly at him. The creature had a circular mouth that had a pair of small mandibles in front of it and two large, blunt teeth in the center of its mouth. Its eyes glowed with a bright pink bioluminescence and stared eerily at him, as if studying him.
Daring to glance away from its eyes, Lelouch looked at the rest of the creature in its entirety. The animal's chest was also a translucent pale blue, and it showcased its innards almost entirely. It had a dark purple ribcage-like formation, and many bright veins and arteries that pumped, all connecting to what Lelouch had to guess was a bright pink, pulsing, circular heart. The thing differed from most other creatures in that it actually had two arms, both appendages ending in bright, sharp pale blue scythes.
A reaper's weapon.
Seeing as the creature was clearly a carnivore, Lelouch remained wary. Waiting for any sudden movement to give him good reason to rush back to the safety of the island's surface. However, the creature remained still and idle, only turning to face Lelouch as he slowly got closer to the entrance of the Oblivion. Since he had to pass the creature to get inside the machine, Lelouch only took the time to quickly glance at the rest of his surroundings while his main focus was on the unknown variable before him.
Lelouch hated unknown variables so much, despised them really. It made him uneasy.
The lower half of the thing's body idly kept itself in place as it slowly spun to keep facing him. The creature's head tilted to the side just a tad in intrigue. Its mandibles clicking together, and a high pitched tone warbled out of its mouth for a moment. Once Lelouch reached the hatch of the Oblivion its compartment opened up to let him in, just waiting for him to open the hatch. Very, very slowly so as to not startle the beast before him into attacking, Lelouch raised one of his hands up to begin opening the hatch. He was halfway through when-
"▛▄▖▜▚┣ ▜▚┗┣┗┫┓┏┓ ▛▄▖┅┗▖. ┣┗┏▛▄▖▜┏┣ ▚ ▖▞┣┗- new subject detected- ▞┣┗▖┗┣- analyzing. ▀┗▖."
A look of horror dawned upon Lelouch's face, and he quickly threw all caution in the wind to wrench the hatch open and throw it closed behind him. Rushing quickly up the ladder, Lelouch went to the helm of the submarine to look outside towards where he had last seen the thing.
It hadn't budged an inch, instead staring back at the Oblivion as a whole. As if it knew he was inside, and was suddenly much more curious in the giant vehicle than ever before.
"Hide."
When it started swimming towards the helm as well, Lelouch quickly fled back into the Oblivion into the darkness since it was currently turned off to preserve power. Hiding behind the wall, Lelouch looked into the reflection of the metallic hull to see what was going on outside without being seen.
It was there, looking, watching, waiting. Its mandibles clicked, and even from within the hull of the Oblivion, Lelouch could hear its high pitched, shrill clicking and screeching of whatever language it was using. It sounded like a machine, yet it looked and acted like a natural creature. It tilted its head again, side to side, and moved around the glass with unblinking glowing eyes.
It was actually looking inside the Cyclops, trying to see what else was inside. Trying to see if Lelouch was still in there.
Lelouch's heart rate spiked at the thought. Was it hunting him? Or was it just too curious for its own good and Lelouch was overreacting? He didn't know, but it was better to be safe rather than deeply sorry.
"Wait…"
He didn't trust it.
Slowly, the creature raised one of its arms, and lightly tapped on the glass separating it from the insides of the machine. The light 'tink, tink, tinking' of its sharp appendage softly hitting the glass sounded like cannon fire in the stiff silence within the Oblivion.
The roar of a Reaper Leviathan sounded in the distance, and the thing paused its actions mid tapping. It looked back out towards the ocean in stiff silence suddenly.
A bright flash of blue violet suddenly appeared over the metal wall, blinding Lelouch from seeing anything else. When it died down and Lelouch was able to blink the stars out of its eyes, the creature was gone.
"..Danger.."
Instead of going to immediately check if it had left or not like a fool, Lelouch crept down towards the storage room of the Oblivion as quietly as possible. The teen was mindful of every creek and squeak of metal and his extensions as he moved around and looked through the lockers. Once he had found the purple tablet, the revolutionary placed it safely inside his bag.
After that, he sat down on the metal floor, and waited.
Once exactly twenty minutes had passed, Lelouch figured the thing had lost interest and decided to go explore somewhere else. Checking outside at the helm just in case, as soon as the cost was clear Lelouch decided it was time to leave and head back to the island as quickly as possible lest it come back.
"...Go… It is near… Waiting…"
He deployed the Seamoth to get closer to the island, just in case.
There we have it folks! The trio have finally made it to the main island! They haven't even explored the place yet and already weird stuff is happening. Don't take the encrypted Warper dialogue too seriously though! I just copied and pasted it from the wiki to make it easier on me. It actually doesn't say anything too important. It's just to make the Warper more intimidating to Lelouch and the others. No way was I going to take the time to tediously form out a message for four lines of dialogue. No flipping way.
Anyways, if you have enjoyed the story so far leave a REVIEW, Follow, and Favorite the story so you can keep track of when chapters pop up. Because FYI, I don't have a posting schedule and I just post whenever I feel like it.
Otherwise, I'll be seeing you guys in chapter 18! -MoonlightWright