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. 22: The Glowing Caves

"... You're gonna tell him, right?" Kallen questioned hopefully.

"Heck no." Said hope was crushed instantly by Suzaku's immediate response. "He's probably going to wake up with the biggest migraine of his life and a bad attitude after speaking with that weird, telepathic alien thing. You're the one who suggested it, you're telling him. Besides, he likes you better and you're hurt, so he'll go easier on you bombarding him with bad news as soon as he wakes up." He added in, as if that would make it any better.

"Anyway I can convince you to change your mind?"

"Nope."

"Well, alright then. Screw you too."

. . .

Suzaku was right, Lelouch wasn't the happiest person in the world once he finally woke up the next morning.

Did he have a killer headache after it felt like his mind was melting into mush? Yes.

Was he pleased with the sudden development that there was now more than one Warper, and that they were all suddenly starting to hunt them seemingly out of mere spite? Not at all.

Did he go easier on Kallen when she was the one to be forced to bring up the news once Lelouch finished his meal? Debatable, but most likely yes.

Thankfully, Lelouch had much better news to add to the table of discussion for their breakfast meeting. A lead to the material they desperately needed to fabricate stasis rifles, magnetite. Along with a clue as to where the Degasi survivors went once they abandoned their bases on the floating island. While the method to getting these leads wasn't the prettiest or harmless, the idea of having such a powerful tool on hand like the stasis rifle was too good to pass up. Such a weapon could turn the tides of battle very easily if used wisely. It was all too good to pass up. Even better, the location also had a possible lead to getting further towards the planet's core and learn more about the aliens that were on this planet before the trio had arrived.

Once everyone got their facts straight it wasn't long after that the group packed up and headed out towards wherever this mysterious mushroom cave was located.

For once, it wasn't Kallen that was driving the Seamoth either, it was Lelouch. Seeing as he was the only one to communicate with the alien and have images forcibly shoved into his head he was the only one that had even the vaguest idea as to where the entrance to the cave system could be. Therefore, he got to drive, and while he wasn't as well versed in it as Kallen he piloted it well enough.

Their journey eventually led them back towards a familiar setting, unfortunately.

"Why are we back here?" Kallen rubbed her injured arm in discomfort as they passed the swaying red grass and destroyed Lifepod 17. Her features scrunching up as past memories replayed themselves in the back of her mind, forcing a phantom pain to erupt around her healing arm. Lelouch tried to avoid the sand sharks like the plague, but some were still visible out of the corner of her eye, skulking near the seafloor to find a good place to hide.

"Remember when the PDA said that this biome connected to a bunch of cave networks?" Lelouch answered Kallen's question with one of his own. "Well, it turns out this place with all the freaky glowing mushrooms and magnetite has been hiding underneath us this entire time."

Then Lelouch directed the Seamoth towards the gaping hole that was beside Lifepod 17, darkness being the only thing that greeted them, and dived straight in.

Instantly, Suzaku was tightening his hold on the safety handle and the back of Lelouch's seat. A single beat of sweat gliding down his brow as darkness enveloped them the further they went down. Anxiety rising within his chest and making his breaths slightly shorter than before. "Oh, I hate this. I hate this so much." He nearly squinted his eyes shut. "Why does everything have to be so freaking dark the further we go down?"

"We're going into a cave Suzaku, of course it's going to be dark." Kallen deadpanned, but it was obvious she didn't like it either from her tense posture.

"It'll get brighter in just a second." Lelouch soothed both of his comrades as he used the Seamoth's lights to guide them further down the cave network. A quick glance showing that they were getting close to 200 meters. Thankfully, with the Seamoth's depth module upgrade obtained from the Aurora, they could go down to 300 meters.

"What do you mea- oh." Suzaku cut himself short once Lelouch cut the Seamoth's lights off. The bright, glaring cyan blue lights instead turned into a soft, natural, gentle magenta glow that was becoming more noticeable now that they have reached the end of the tunnel. "Oh wow."

"You can say that again." Kallen agreed, and while Lelouch wasn't as impressed as the rest seeing as he had seen this place beforehand he still took a moment to let it all sink in.

You would think that by now, they would be used to what environments 4546B had to show them. Well, you would be dead wrong.

While the cave network was a moderate size for the Seamoth, to the three humans it felt huge in comparison. Having never explored a cave as big as this before it felt like a different experience from the small ones they looked into in the Safe Shallows and occasionally the Kelp Forests. This place actually had stalactites and stalagmites, giving theory to this place once possibly having air in it before being flooded. The ambience all around was quiet, and much more unnerving than in the smaller caves.

However, that was countered by the soothing purple glow coming from the enormous mushrooms scattered all around the cave system. The cap of the mushrooms was transparent, yet glowed brightly while the base was dark and solid. The mushrooms resided on huge plates of dark blue coral with smaller versions of the mushrooms scattered around the bigger ones in various sizes and stages of growth.

"Those mushrooms look like they're made of jelly." Suzaku whispered as Lelouch began to slowly move the Seamoth forward.

It was beautiful, so of course something had to ruin it. As was the norm for this planet.

"The conditions in this cave support a microcosm of unique, possibly predatory lifeforms." The PDA piped up, causing the trio within the Seamoth to flinch in surprise at the unexpected noise. "Detecting an artificial structure somewhere in the region."

"So there is a sea base hiding somewhere here." Lelouch murmured to himself as he carefully guided the Seamoth around the edges of the cave to explore. The teen kept the lights of the Seamoth off in case it unknowingly angered any of the fauna in the cave like it would the bone sharks.

"Where are the predatory lifeforms though? I don't see anything." Kallen spoke as her eyes were glued outside the window of the Seamoth.

"Oh they're out there. Somewhere." Suzaku said ominously as he too kept a careful eye out for any danger in this new area. "Seeing as nothing has shown itself yet besides small fish I'd say it's waiting to ambush us."

"While that statement makes you sound seriously paranoid, Suzaku is probably right." Lelouch agreed as he guided the Seamoth forward with some destination clearly in mind. "It would be hard to hunt in these caves since there is no cover like in the Kelp forest, and there is plenty of light thanks to the huge mushrooms. I'd say any predators that live here have to be ambush predators so they don't expend too much energy, so keep an eye out." The group went over a rising ridge that dropped, and Lelouch pulled the Seamoth to a temporary stop. "Ah, there it is."

At the bottom of the ridge, right beside a decent sized glowing mushroom, laid a sea base that clearly came from human origins. The main rooms, hallways, and structures all looked nearly identical to the ones the trio had used when making their base in the Safe Shallows. The only difference between them was that this base was decrepit, rusted, and was clearly taken over by nature.

"How the heck did you find this thing so quickly?" Her eyebrows rose up in shock as Kallen looked towards Lelouch for answers. "I thought for sure we'd be searching this cave for hours at least."

"How else? The alien told me." Lelouch didn't look all too pleased as he said that. "She shoved a bunch of images into my head. I doubt I'd forget such a painful experience so quickly. Though, it does look more worn down than what she showed me." That was an understatement. What Lelouch saw and imagined in his head was brand new, but this base before him was the absolute opposite of that. He was somewhat curious as to why that is, but didn't care enough to really find out.

Lelouch was just happy that the alien was right and was being useful.

"Let's just see what is in here and scavenge what we can. Then we can start looking for that magnetite." Suzaku interjected and opened the hatch of the Seamoth to climb outside. Kallen followed right after, and Lelouch joined them once he parked the Seamoth in a relatively safe spot.

A quick perusing of the area around the abandoned base provided a couple fragments and blueprints for a thermal and nuclear power plant respectively. However, the better find had to be the small deposit of magnetite Kallen managed to find. The ore was a dark gray and shaped so much like a pyramid Lelouch almost didn't believe that it was done naturally. There were two big prominent pyramid shapes while there were other smaller ones clustered together underneath them. At the very least they finally found and obtained some magnetite, and they knew what it actually looked like now, so they could easily find more.

Stasis rifles were now on the table, and would be the first thing any of them would fabricate as soon as they got back to base. First, they had to finish exploring and survive getting back.

"Be very careful of the drooping stingers." The revolutionary warned as they all neared the only viable entrance to the ruined base. All eyes looking towards the multiple, beautifully glowing, yet deadly, purple and blue mushroom-looking flora hanging from the ceiling of the base. "Their stingers are incredibly venomous."

"They make me think of the jellyfish we have back on Earth." Kallen commented as the drooping stingers idly floated in the water.

"Here, let me." The Lancelot pilot swam forward, and very gently, used the blaze luminous on his dive suit to move the plant's stingers to the side without getting hurt. The brunette gestured further into the base. "After you."

"Thanks." Both Kallen and Lelouch swam forward and easily maneuvered past the plant thanks to Suzaku's help.

The group slowly made their way forward into the base. Seeing as Suzaku had a way to safely move the stingers without harming himself, Lelouch and Kallen allowed him to take the lead. With the Britannian soldier's assistance they were able to gather a PDA voice log and obtained the blueprints for a water filtration station. A wonderful discovery that allowed the group to no longer rely on bladderfish to obtain a safe source of water to drink from.

Not that they were in short supply of them, what with the bladderfish all but jumping into Suzaku's arms half of the time.

It was slow progress moving forward due to the sheer abundance of drooping stingers, but progress regardless. As they scavenged, Lelouch began to play the voice log they had just obtained from the PDA.

"I thought it might get claustrophobic, living underwater." The voice of Bart Torgal echoed out in the ocean waves within the ruined base. He sounded much more happy and healthier than before back on the floating island in that last voice log. "Father feels it is. He'd tell me it was childish, but I stare out the window and sometimes I think how lucky I am to see this world up close." Everyone exchanged shocked looks at the teen's declaration. Apparently, Bart Torgal had to have a few screws loose if he thought being stuck on this planet was a lucky incident. "Back on the island I wouldn't have believed the creatures that live down here." His voice started rising in his excitement. "The fish, they GLOW! There's one that's 90 percent eyeball, 90 percent! Snakes twice the length of a habitat compartment." Bart laughed breathily through the PDA. "I've been attempting to document my findings. Father approves. He says understanding is power. That the more we know about this planet, the more we can use it to our advantage… I just think it's fun."

"I can agree with that thought process." Lelouch grumbled as he ducked under a small, baby drooping stinger.

"Certainly it's not all friendly. Most of the plant life is toxic… I learned that the hard way, but I've managed to coax some marblemelons into growing indoors, and when they don't cover our dietary needs. Well, we eat the fish themselves." The last Degasi survivor sounded sheepish at the admittance. "It's a bit gross, but it's nothing they wouldn't do."

"You get used to the spongy sensation after a while." Suzaku commented casually as he blocked another set of stingers with his blaze luminous.

Instantly, a look of disgust spread over Lelouch's face at his best friend's words. "Really? I can barely stand to take another bite half of the time."

"Less talking, more exploring." Kallen interrupted the duo as she looked out of a cracked window. "We're getting close to the ladder leading up to the second level."

"So anyway, trying to document my findings isn't exactly the easiest without proper equipment and network access. But the old fashioned way, observing, taking notes, testing theories, it shows me the world in a way a spectroscopic analysis never could." Bart cheered to himself and the shuffling of papers sounded out from the PDA. "Lately, I've been watching the crabsnakes."

"Oh, that doesn't sound too good." Suzaku spoke uneasily, olive eyes carefully peaking over the ladder of the second level of the abandoned base.

"They ambush their prey as it tries to feed on the mushrooms they hide in." The young teen continued gushing happily in the PDA as the trio explored the small second level of the abandoned base. "What they don't eat settles on the seabed, which fertilizes the mushrooms, which feeds the herbivores, and so the chain continues." He laughed. "Ha ha, coevolution gives me the fuzzies."

"Okay, so these predators are hiding in the huge mushrooms themselves. Good to know." The terrorist leader noted idly as he looked outside the observatory of the destroyed base.

"I just realized something." The Guren pilot voiced out as she grabbed another PDA voice log that once again belonged to Bart Torgal. "You think they got the Kharaa too?" Seeing as there was nothing left of use on the second floor the group went back down to the first and entered the main room of the base. "I mean, that last entry we got on the floating island from this guy didn't sound too good."

"Most likely." Lelouch agreed with a hum as he played the next PDA entry. "Let's finish looking around here and then explore these caves a bit to hunt for more magnetite. Then we can head back to base and plan from there."

"Got it."

Once the voice log began to play, the sound of Bart Torgal's voice once again spoke out in the waters for all to hear. "Haha, something incredible just happened!" The deceased teen exclaimed in awe. "Since we're down here, I had this plan to build equipment and study the incredible lifeforms we're encountering, but I didn't have enough enameled glass. So I started looking for a natural substrate that would strengthen the glass we have, and those stalker teeth we've been finding fit the bill. Only, well, we needed more." He began to explain his story. "That's when Marguerit got interested. She actually listened to me, more than I can say for father." Didn't that statement have Lelouch sympathizing with the teen. "And that got me to work up the courage to talk about my more… tentative theories."

"When I told her they were attracted to metal deposits, that their teeth get dislodged when they pick them up, her eyes narrowed and she dashed out of the room." A quick exhale of breath escaped Bart. "Three hours later she came back, her pack loaded down with stalker teeth!" The Degasi survivor laughed out loud. "I asked her about it. She shrugged, and said my theories were good! Said she had them eating out of the palm of her hand… I think she meant it literally."

"That woman is insane." Lelouch shivered, past encounters with those sea beasts passing his mind at the mere thought. Having them 'eating out of the palm of her hand' for metal? No way would he have been brave enough, or stupid enough, to try that himself. "It's hard enough to even get creepvine seed clusters from where they live sometimes."

"Hey! I found a data box over here." Suzaku called out as he opened the box with one hand while holding back some drooping stingers with the other arm. "It says it's for a high capacity O2 tank!"

"Really? That's perfect. We'll be able to dive deeper while having more oxygen to breathe at the same time." Lelouch grinned, and Kallen couldn't help but roll her eyes at the revolutionary getting distracted so easily with Suzaku's discovery.

"She is incredible!" Torgal praised with awe clear in his tone. "She went out to the kelp forests, armed with just a heat blade, and went fin to fin with a pack of stalkers!" Thankfully, the teen started to calm himself down again. "On the one hand, that is the coolest thing I have ever heard. On the other, I hope the stalkers didn't come off worse than Marguerit did. She had a huge gash on her forearm. I don't think things went as smoothly as she made out. And what's the point in surviving here if we have to kill everything that makes it so wonderful?" He sighed heavily. "I wish I knew more about these animals, but father won't let me leave the habitat. Maybe with all this glass we could build a containment unit and get up close to them."

"Okay, this kid is a bit too enthralled with these sea creatures." Kallen interjected as she forced a locker open, another abandoned PDA greeting her. "Hey Lelouch, toss me the PDA for a sec!"

"Sure thing." Lelouch didn't even look back as he tossed the PDA the redhead's way. The revolutionary was currently investigating a desk filled with ruined papers and floating, discarded beakers with unknown substances still trapped inside them.

"Signal location uploaded to PDA." The machine called out once Kallen finished uploading the useful data into it from the old one.

The Black Knight raised a single eyebrow. "Another location? You mean these guys moved to another base?" She said in shock as the trio gathered together at the center of the main room. They had just about scavenged the entire place down to its bare bones. Suzaku found two more PDA voice logs, but that was it.

"Play the voice log. It'll probably give us more hints as to where they went next besides just a signal to follow." Suzaku suggested as he helped his companions begin leaving the sea base and head back towards the Seamoth to refill their O2 tanks.

"Agreed." Lelouch nodded as he allowed Kallen to pilot the Seamoth again since he didn't have to anymore. In return the PDA was given back to him as he scrolled through it. "These people got far before something happened, causing them to head back up to the floating island. They're trying to find the same answers we're looking for, so perhaps they have some information we could use and build off of."

"You know what Maida told me today?" Paul Torgal, the unofficial 'leader' of the Degasi group, scoffed as the PDA voice log began to play. "She wants to build a habitat 500 meters below sea level, more than a kilometer north-east of here! And she needs Bart and I to do it." Clearly, the older man wasn't too pleased by the idea his contracted mercenary had. "She's got it into her head that she can save us if she just acts recklessly enough. But I've hauled starwhals to Neptune. Plasteel to the Federation!"

"Starwhals?" Suzaku blinked. "What the heck are those?"

"No clue." Lelouch grunted as he shifted the stuff in his bag around. The group was extra careful in the Seamoth to avoid getting too close to the gigantic glowing mushrooms. Now that they knew what was hiding within them the glowing flora didn't seem so nice and pleasant anymore.

"This family operates nine different mining colonies across the Ariadne Arm. Maida thinks she's better suited to lead?" Paul growled in barely concealed rage. "Her contract still says otherwise." He stated with gritted teeth.

"As if anyone would care about what a stupid piece of paper says when in this situation." Kallen snapped as she expertly weaved around some stalactites at the top of the cave.

"This guy cares apparently." Lelouch rolled his eyes at the thought. "A bit too much honestly. He uses it as a form of control to comfort himself in an environment he has little to no control over."

"But… I just cannot damn tell whether it's the stupidest idea I've ever heard, or my only hope." At this admittance, Paul Torgal began to calm some, before something vulnerable entered his tone. "I turned 80 years old last week."

That raised a ton of eyebrows and even got Kallen to slow the Seamoth down to look over her shoulder. "That dude was over 80 years old?! Holy hell that old timer had a kick in him. No wonder he's so easily irritable."

"I thought I had another 80 in me, but marooned on this planet there's no swapping out my liver when the old one fails. Here, I'm mortal… And Maida is useful." The old man sighed heavily.

"The wonders this technology will do for the people back on Earth." Lelouch's grip tightened on the PDA as a thought entered his head. The smallest spark of hope in this dark, endless place. Could this technology help Nunnally walk again? With what I've almost finished to help Kallen… I'll have to look further into it with help from the PDA.

Paul sighed again, and the sound of the man scratching at his neck sounded through the PDA. "So it's my responsibility to make a decision. Return to the island and hope whatever knocked the Degasi out of the sky won't do the same to the rescue ship, or take us deeper in search of answers. All the while hoping old age gets me before the sea monsters do." Honestly, death by old age did sound infinitely nicer than death by carnivorous, man-eating sea aliens. "I'll give Maida just one thing. She was right about these caves. There's enough lithium here to fabricate a hundred tons of plasteel. Enough for a damn FLEET of Cyclops submarines. There was nothing anyone could have done to avoid crashing here, but I was right to order the detour."

"If the dude didn't order the detour they never would've gotten stuck here." Kallen grouched before quieting down.

"If we get off this planet they'll be talking about the Torgal share price on the other side of the Federation." The man finished with a slight greedy tint in his tone.

"Oh the lengths people will go to for money." Lelouch bemoaned dramatically as Kallen found a good spot of magnetite and shale outcroppings for the group to pilfer. "It seems it hasn't changed a bit even in a different reality."

"Okay, quit your dramatics for now Lelouch and let's get to scavenging." Suzaku rolled his eyes at his friend's antics before leaving the Seamoth followed by the others. "I really want to avoid having any confrontation with these crabsnakes if I can avoid it." Yet, the moment Suzaku scooped up a diamond he obtained from a shale outcropping, the PDA spoke out once more.

"Remember that materials you gather are the property of the Alterra corporation." The female voice of the PDA reminded him pleasantly. "You will be liable to reimburse the full market price. Your current bill stands at 3 million credits."

At that declaration, Suzaku stared over at the PDA Lelouch was holding with one cape extension, gobsmacked. "What- three million-" He stammered frantically. "I don't have 3 million credits!"

"Ha ha ha!" Kallen laughed as she rushed ahead on her Seaglide to scoop up some more magnetite along with a bit of lithium. "Then you better start saving up now while you're ahead Suzaku!" She joked, much to Suzaku's embarrassment if his flushed cheeks had anything to say about it. Thankfully, the purple glow from the mushrooms blocked out most of the redness flooding his face, so nobody else noticed. Instead, the brunette decided to silently focus on gathering more supplies again, ignoring the PDA's remark. Seeing as everyone else was focused on gathering supplies again, Lelouch decided to fill the void with more noise by listening to the rest of the PDA voice logs.

"Son." Paul Torgal began as the sound of them entering the sea base echoed out. "There is always a pecking order, and in our world, money makes the hierarchy." Was it sad that such a statement could also be used for their home back on Earth? Probably. "I pay Maida a fraction of what I pay you, and you a fraction of what I pay me."

"But, if money makes the hierarchy, why is Marguerit making the decisions?" Bart asked, clearly confused.

"We need her." Bart's father responded simply. "We let her think what she likes, so long as she does what she's told."

"What if she doesn't?"

"For enough money, she will. People always do." Paul Torgal stated as if that was a fact, which it probably was considering most cases. It was also somewhat disappointing to know that statement was usually true for most people.

However, clearly Marguerit Maida was not like most people. Judging from the argument Paul and Marguerit had in the next PDA entry.

"We're already 200 meters below sea level!" Paul's stiff voice boomed out over the speakers. "You want to go deeper!?"

"Look around us, Chief." It was clear the woman said that title with heavy sarcasm and derision. The two adults did not get along well, at all. "Water leaking through the hull. Water outside the hatch. We're drowning, real slow. If rescue arrives, whatever shot us down, it's going to do it again." Unfortunately, the woman was right if the state of the Aurora and the Sunbeam had anything to say about it. "And again. Until it's shut off. You see an off switch around here, Chief?"

"Why would it any more likely be half a kilometer down?!" That was a pretty good point Paul raised. Why would any sane human build deeper beneath the planet rather than stay near the surface?

Probably because the people that first arrived on this planet weren't humans at all.

"Your kid found something on the scanner." Marguerit stated stiffly as the sound of screeching metal sounded out. The woman in the process of sharpening a dull blade in her spare time as she spoke to her fellow stranded Degasi survivor. "There's something down there. Something that shouldn't be."

"You're mad." Paul spat, and maybe he was right, maybe he wasn't. Either way the mercenary didn't give the man a response to it besides a simple statement.

"I'm goin' all the same. And I've an idea you two are gonna follow. But if you do, be mindful." Marguerit actually sounded pleasant for a moment in her derision before returning to her usual snappy self. "Your authority stopped at sea level."

"Well damn." Kallen whistled as the trio gathered together again a safe distance away from any giant glowing mushrooms. "She's certainly putting her foot down huh?"

"It seems like it." Lelouch muttered off hand as he finished fiddling with the PDA before putting it away. Taking a moment to shift through the supplies he had gathered in his bag, Lelouch piped up again. "I believe we have enough supplies and magnetite to last us for a good while. I say let's head back to base for the day and get those stasis rifles fabricated so we can test them out."

"I agree." Suzaku took a moment to pause and stretch out his limbs in the water. A loud yawn escaped past his lips before his hand idly went up to scratch around the base of his throat, taking a moment to clear it. "I feel exhausted already, and a nice hot shower right before bed sounds wonderful right about now." The scratching around the base of his neck increased and didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Kallen threw back her head and groaned loudly in agreement. "Same!"

"Then let's get the hell out of here." The revolutionary stated, using one of his cape extensions to carefully stop Suzaku from scratching at his own neck like a wild animal. Green eyes looked to Lelouch's own in gratitude at the action. "There's a project I'm nearly finished on and this magnetite was the last component I needed to actually fabricate its components."

"Oh?" Kallen raised a single eyebrow in curiosity. "I didn't know you were working on any other side project besides studying the wildlife here on this planet. What is it?"

At her questioning, Lelouch merely smirked in her direction before swiftly swimming back to the Seamoth. Opening the hatch with his cape, Lelouch answered mysteriously. "It's a surprise."

. . .

Just as each person said they would do, the moment they got back to base Suzaku made a beeline for the showers the moment his bag hit the base's floor. Kallen immediately started to work on fabricating three stasis rifles for everyone, and Lelouch rushed back to the bedrooms with the PDA held tightly in his hands. The group was in a rather happy mood by the time the sun started setting, bathing the ocean world in liquid gold.

For once, an adventure out into the ocean in new terrain didn't go horribly, drastically wrong. No one got seriously injured or almost died. No one was separated from each other, and no huge monsters came out of the dark depths trying to consume them, nor did the sky turn red like it was the end of the world. They achieved all of their objectives and more with the extra materials they had gathered.

So overall, it was a huge win for everyone. The only downer to the evening was the constant itching and sense of foreboding everyone was beginning to feel spread out all over their bodies, and the dry feeling hidden deep within their throats and around their eyes. As if they were all terribly thirsty, but everyone knew that wasn't the case.

The Kharaa was getting stronger.

Their immune systems were getting weaker.

They were starting to run out of time.

However, all hope wasn't lost yet, the group still had a chance, still had leads to follow. They had the coordinates to Lifepod 2 they still needed to explore that could lead them even deeper towards the planet's core. They had the coordinates towards another base that once belonged to the Degasi survivors. They had two goals in mind and an objective to achieve to get to those goals. Get to the center of the planet's core, find the alien, find a cure for Kharaa, and then finally, finally they could go home.

They finally had something they were starving for all this time, a chance.

A hope that was about to evolve from a mere tiny flame into a raging inferno thanks to a breakthrough found through obtaining the magnetite from the Jellyshroom Caves. As everyone agreed to so aptly call the place they just visited.

While Suzaku was taking a nice long shower to help relax his stiff and sore muscles, Lelouch silently exited the bedrooms and quickly made his way over towards the fabricator once Kallen was done. PDA held securely in one cape extension as he muttered quietly to himself whilst working with the fabricator. The machine whirring to life and sparks of blue electricity and light quickly worked their magic to create whatever the wanted vigilante was working on.

Meanwhile, Kallen had finished creating the stasis rifles, and was currently in awe over the one that she had made to match her dive suit's colors. Her good hand gently running over the smooth shiny metal of her newly made weapon with a light smile on her face. The other two stasis rifles meant for Suzaku and Lelouch were stored away in a spare locker left open so the others could find and fiddle with their new toys whenever they had the chance.

In the redhead's mind, she really hoped, prayed that her messed up arm didn't mess with her aiming too badly since it was still in the process of healing. Back with the Black Knights, the ace pilot used to be one of the best when it came to wielding, using, and aiming a gun. In fact, Kallen was so good that she used to sometimes help train new recruits on how to use a gun properly before Todoh and the Four Holy Swords came along to fill in the position properly. Now, she almost dreaded the thought of trying to raise her arm high enough to aim and fire the long rifle.

Would Todoh be disappointed in her? Would Ohgi?

Before doubts could take root in her head, Lelouch came in to interrupt them and ripped them out like a dark angel from above.

"Hey." He spoke quietly as his shadow cast over Kallen's frame, drowning her in darkness. Looking up, the Guren pilot met Lelouch's gaze, his voice somewhat raspy before he cleared his throat with a loud grunt of effort before trying again. "Hey."

The second attempt sounded much better, and more normal than the first. Yet, he didn't say anything else after. After a few seconds of silence that was slowly becoming more awkward by the second, Kallen finally noticed some things very unusual about her leader. It wasn't much, and if you didn't know him well enough like she did, you probably wouldn't have even noticed anything amiss. But she did, and once Kallen noticed, she couldn't unsee it.

The first and most obvious was that his cape extensions were flared out, making it look like he had wings extending from his back. Now that he had his new limbs under control they hardly acted out. Kallen knew Lelouch would do that display as Zero or when he was feeling dramatic. When they were in the safety of their sea base Lelouch would mostly keep his cape extensions glued to his sides and keep them still. Sort of like how his cape normally looked back before they arrived in this reality, their 'standby position' as the terrorist once put it.

The second thing was that both of his hands were currently hiding behind his back. Making it plain for all to see that he was hiding something, explaining why his cape extensions were flared out.

Finally, there was a strange look in Lelouch's eyes. A strange flicker in his dual colored gaze that caused the slightest furrow to appear on his brow and for his bottom lip to curl inwards just slightly.

He looked… nervous? Unsure?

Whatever it was, it had Kallen on guard and alert instantly, her back straightening up as she addressed her leader.

"Yes?" She quirked a single brow, admittedly curious about this new demeanor she had never seen Lelouch express before outside of fights. As far as the Black Knight Ace knew, she and Lelouch were back on good terms, on even standing with each other. They weren't mad at each other anymore, they didn't have any recent fights or arguments, so why did Lelouch look so doubtful-?

"I have something for you." The way Lelouch almost rushed that out like it was word vomit brought Kallen back out of the rabbit hole that was her own head. Her sapphire gaze snapping back into reality with a single blink.

"Oh." The realization helped Kallen resume a more relaxed posture now that she knew nothing bad was going to happen. "Really? For me?" The redhead almost felt touched by his words. It must've been an upgrade for her stasis rifle or something. "Is this what you've been working on?"

A slight smirk crossed Lelouch's fair features. "Perhaps." He said cryptically, before his features scrunched up in discomfort and he turned his head to the side to cough and clear his throat. One hand reflexively going up to cover his face as he did so.

Once he began to calm from his coughing fit, which actually sounded quite rough, Kallen allowed a small smile to spread across her face. "Well, don't keep me waiting, what is it?"

Taking one more moment to smack his lips, Lelouch closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and finally unveiled what he was hiding behind his back with a renewed confidence in his dual colored eyes. It took a moment for Kallen's brain to process what exactly she was looking at, but once it did she couldn't stop the loud, shocked gasp to escape past her lips. Her good arm rushed up to cover her mouth in disbelief as tears suddenly began to fog up her eyes.

The contraption was mostly made of a light, flawless silver metal meticulously polished to perfection. It had what seemed to be stalker hide dyed black to act as a holder for the metal bent around it. Multiple black buckles going down one side of the unknown machine shining with a silver button at the end of each buckle. Beautiful Japanese kanjis painted red and lightly glowing orange were carefully etched into the metal to showcase strength, grace, beauty, and determination. At the end of the contraption were five wicked metal fingers, the ends of which were tipped with long glowing orange claws that made the air above it waver with immense heat. Lelouch took a moment to fiddle with the device, before that glowing orange turned into a more dark, dull color as the heat was turned off.

Before Kallen was what had to be the most beautiful and advanced piece of technology her mind could ever come up with, second only to the Guren. Kallen knew without a single shred of doubt that it would fit perfectly over her injured, slowly recovering right arm.

It was a metal gauntlet. The light of the sunset gleaming through the window and off of the metal of the arm making its silver sheen almost shine like gold.

Things are starting to speed up! The group is getting sicker, but they're also getting farther down into the planet's core. Not only that, but they're getting big upgrades now like the moonpool, the stasis rifle, and now Kallen's gauntlet. The gauntlet was something I had planned for a very long time now, but needed time and a good space in the story to introduce. Afterall, Lelouch may be a genius, but even he would need a lot of time to study and figure out how to make a fully functioning gauntlet just for Kallen.

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 23! -MoonlightWright