The first chapter of my new upload schedule and the day started off great to boot, being cloudy and chilled, making other tasks much more manageable. It even gave me some ideas for the more minor details of this chapter. Even if I have to hold myself back from skipping the parts I want to do, I need to build up to them. Sadly, that commissioned drawing isn't done yet, and I'm not sure if that's weird, as this is the first time I've done this. So, I had to cut this short despite still having notes for the last bit.

Chapter 7: Settling In

Boarding the submarine, though Lelouch had reason to think it wasn't just that, he found that the portable base of the resistance was much cleaner than he would think 3 teens could maintain. And spacious as well. The Ikaruga of the Black Knights was well over twice as large, but that was a military vehicle that could carry knightmares. This was not.

Ace left to steer the things and get them underway, and Baron offered to help with his things. However, he politely declined if for no other reason than he saw it as training to get into better shape. He would ignore that he didn't pack much, and even that was a bit of a strain. One step at a time…one step at a time.

They left his bike in one of the areas in the lower levels that served as a vehicle bat/workshop, though it seemed that he and Mira were the only ones who had additional vehicles. That settled, he followed them as they took the elevator up and made their way to the bridge; entering, he found that it was just as clean and spacious as the rest of the ship, with consoles designed for a bridge crew of 6, but with just Ace at the helm, he could see that it was designed for even just one operator.

"What do you think? Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Ace asked, smirking as he waited for Lelouch to show his amazement at the vehicle.

Shame for them that he had seen bigger and better. "It is certainly something. A vehicle like this would only make sense when our targets are the 3 dimensional controllers." He kept the compliment to the facts, which got Baron to deflate a little while Ace huffed.

He focused on steering as their lights would give them away, so he had to rely on their instruments to see even in the pitch-black waters. The windows meant that Zero could watch as they sank deeper into the waves before they finally started moving, steaming away from Beta City.

Shapes would appear here and there. Only when they got close could he call them fish, but they fit the alien world as they looked nothing like the fish he had ever seen. Even when he went out and shopped, his lack of accommodations meant he often just picked ready-made meals or things that wouldn't require much effort. That would be something that changed.

Baron, who had gone silent like Mira but not clearly as poised as her, got an idea as he gestured to Zero's body. "So…will you, you know, remove the mask? I swear we're all friendly."

"No." Zero shot that down without hesitation.

"Oh." Zero felt little for how sad the muscular teen looked.

"Someone's got attitude," Ace muttered, though it had to be intentionally loud enough that they all heard it.

Zero didn't respond to the taunt. Instead, Sirenoid did as she came up and landed on his shoulder. "Does it matter who's under it? We're allies, end of story." She kept it short, but it was clear that she wasn't much a fan of Ace's comment, though Mira knew that it was more the Aquos Bakugan wasn't a fan of their people.

Before Ace or Percival could start some argument, Mira stepped in. "We can discuss things in depth in the morning. I'll give you the tour and show you to your room while we put some distance between us and Beta."

Zero nodded, agreeing that getting into pointless arguments served no one but the Vexos. "That would be wise, considering my last act in the city surely put me on the radar of the Vexos." He let Mira lead him out the door again.

"Wait, you mean that fire outside the mayor's place?" They heard Baron ask before the door closed. As Mira led him down the hallway, they came up, Wilda resting on her shoulder, like Sirenoid on his.

"You could stand to be a little more trusting; we already know your face," Mira told him, though he picked up the lack of order in her words or judgment. Her words were instead merely a suggestion.

"Then there shouldn't be any need for me to show it," Zero replied as they two walked. When she looked over her shoulder at him, he chuckled. "Be at ease. While we all have our secrets, mine will bring you or our cause no harm. That much I can promise."

Mira hummed in thought, her eyes widening before she smiled and turned back to face forward. "I'll hold you to it, but word to the wise: While Ace might be the more level-headed of those two, he can still be brash and won't take the mask thing well."

"Few people do." Tamaki came to mind, though he was an extreme case. He always went from one pendulum swing to the other, so he seemed on the right from the start. Perhaps Ohgi was the better example? Level-headed, cautious but not cowardly, a little timid, though. The man should have more backbone when he could claim to have been part of and then briefly led a resistance group that lasted as long as it did before Zero appeared.

Mira led him around the submarine. Starting from the bottom, she showed him the workshop again so he could grab his things, but she went into detail in a way that reminded him a bit of Rivalz. The gearhead showed him the main engine and generators and how they were largely self-repairing. Still, she mentioned she'll show him how to handle essential maintenance later.

The cafeteria, kitchen, and food storage came next, with her mentioning they took turns preparing meals on whose day it was. This was followed by the mission brief room, general stores, security room with cameras across the ship, and their private quarters.

"Well, that's just about everything. The tour ends with your room." She used a key card to open it, presenting a spartan space with a window, desk, closet, and bed with draws built beneath it. "It's not much, and we couldn't be sure you would join, so it's pretty sparse here."

Zero shook his head. Honestly, it was similar to his quarters on the Ikaruga, just not as large, considering it wasn't built for a commanding officer. "It's fine; I'm grateful that I have a space to myself." It did, however, have a private bathroom and shower, probably something all their rooms had. "Are meals eaten as a group, or do we just head down when the mood strikes us?"

Mira leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed. "A little of both. We try to eat together, but with just the 3, now 4 of us, it's a little hard as someone has to steer."

"So, when we're stationary then," he mused, as it would be a challenge to eat with them and keep the mask on, or at least it would have been if he hadn't had some alterations done. Very well, now allow me the time to unpack, and I'll meet you all soon."

"Just don't take too long, Baron. You can get a little too excited," She warned him as she kicked off and left, the door closing behind him.

"What a strange bunch they are," Juggernoid noted.

"Well, not as strange as I thought they'd be. They are a tad bit on the young side." Clawcer added, to which Zero chuckled as he opened one of his boxes and started unpacking. None of it was truly, personally, the basics of everything, but it'll do.

"That's not as much of an exception as you might think, but it does give one hope that the youth can be shown the truth and change for the better," Zero replied, recalling Suzaku and Kallen. The three of them were not even out of high school. Yet, in the thick of the Japanese struggle for liberation…or at least, they were, he was now occupied with another rebellion.

"Even though most brawlers are children, you put too much faith in these…people." Sirenoid was a hard sell. The Bakugan jumped and landed on his desk, where she went into ball form, which he was told was sort of a meditative/resting stance for Bakugan. "So long as we complete the mission, I could care less about them."

"Either way," He removed his mask, combing a hand through his hair as he placed the helmet next to his Bakugan. "It would do us some good to get started. I also want to see if that door locks."

The following day, they surfaced and cruised along the water. Baron was at the helm this time as she and Ace discussed their plans. They would hit land in about an hour. From there, it'll be a week's travel to Alpha City, where they could do some scouting.

Ace was about to respond to her question about possible routes when one of the doors opened, and their newest member walked in. The Darkus brawler was unamused that Zero missed breakfast and came up still wearing a mask.

Zero immediately picked up on the boy's aggression. "Good morning. I hope I'm not interrupting things."

Mira turned from her conversation to respond. "Not at all, in fact, it's a good thing you arrived."

"You hungry?" Barona asked as Zero walked further in, standing closer to their youngest member.

"No, thank you, Baron. I ate earlier. I just had to return to my room to finish something." Lelouch was an early riser despite how lazy he could be, and with free reign over a kitchen that wasn't slapdash and strictly for survival, he had wished to indulge in his culinary talents. He had even left enough for the others, which was probably why Ace wasn't giving him the issue; one didn't want to piss off the one handling food.

"Early bird?" Instead, the boy kept his comments to the more light-hearted jabs.

"Naturally," Zero replied smoothly.

"Let's focus on the issue at hand, we'll be hitting land soon. After that, we have a few routes we can take." Mira redirected things to the conversation they had been having before.

"Shall we consult the map, then? I've never been outside Beta City and amn't nearly as familiar with the land as you all are." Zero suggested as Baron pulled up the map of the area on the main monitor. It wasn't a photorealistic one but instead a topography map with coloured segments, their position a flashing yellow arrow still in the blue, though it wasn't as deep as areas to their rear.

Mira stepped forward to present things, allowing the map to zoom out to give a greater distance picture. "The fastest route to Alpha City would be this straight shot here. It passes mainly through plains and small rock formations, but it has forests with rivers and streams we can rest at." The route highlighted itself, and it seemed to spend more than two-thirds of it out in open, relatively flat areas.

"I assume it has no cover then?" Zero asked.

"Yeah, we'll be spotted by anyone looking for us, and with our luck, someone already is," Mira replied as the Vexos controlled the skies; it was part of why they did their best not to draw attention to themselves, but a passing patrol could do them in all the same.

Ace stepped up, shifting the map further southwest. The topography is much more treacherous, and there is plenty of green, no doubt forest and grasslands. "But the alternative takes us through the forested areas more frequently. The land isn't the best for our ride, so we'll need to spend time finding paths through it. Along with the extra distance, we'll take another four days at least to make it to Alpha City."

Zero put aside the details that they couldn't fly, or at least not too high if terrain could still pose a threat, and instead focused on the dilemma. "Are we working on a time limit here?" He asked, and when neither said yes, he moved to side with Mira. "Then perhaps caution would be the better option."

Before they could react, however, he added, "However, I sense that time isn't the only thing you have on your mind." He looked at both of them, his faceless mask unnerving with how…piercing his gaze could feel.

There was another reason that Ace wasn't much of a fan of, but he wouldn't out Mira. He'd play ball, if only reluctantly until he could say he trusted their newest member.

Mira was grateful for that but chose to word her response carefully. "The forest is where we have reason to believe Bakugan have found refuge."

Zero hummed, looking back at the map. "I was under the impression that they were all captured."

Ace snorted. "Like the Vexos could do that? There's just too many of them, and in ball form, they can hide pretty much anywhere." Most of the Bakugan people saw these days were those caught in those first few days, as ships flew overhead sucking up any they could. But the Bakugan who weren't caught up in that had fled underground. It was infrequent to find them just in the open now.

Mira, however, wished to add something. "But they would still need someone watching for them, and it could be a good lead."

"This again?" Ace grunted before the two got into an argument that raised Lelouch's eyebrows.

"Our deal leader and her ace had this conversation before." He turned his attention to Baron, speaking softly to avoid unwanted attention as Mira reminded him of Kallen in many ways yet was different in others. He didn't quite wish to see if she was as…physically capable as her, especially when there'll be no seniority and admiration stopping her from kicking his ass.

"A couple times, though I'm not sure I can tell you why. It's…"Baron almost gave the ghost away but tuned to focus on steering. Zero noted that the Haos Bakugo perched on the console was a different shape from the other Bakugan he had seen. "Personal to Mira."

Lelouch wanted to pry, but if she could tolerate his desire to wear his mask again, he could afford her the same courtesy and leave the sleeping dogs alone. "You don't need to say anything more, Baron. My thanks for your response." He nodded towards the boy, who saluted him, grateful he didn't ask further questions.

Looking back towards their leader and Ace, he was happy they couldn't see his amused smile. Honestly, they looked like they could keep going for hours. "I suppose that we're caught in a deadlock then? Can I assume that Sirenoid and I will be voting for this?" His question garnered their attention, Mira having a little red to her face at being caught in one of their…heated discussions.

"Yes. Wilda and I wish to take the longer route and see if we can't find some Bakugan along the way." Mira explained.

"Percival and I think we should focus on taking out the dimensional controller. Once we do, those Bakugan would be one step closer to freedom." Ace took the other side.

"Baron?" Zero turned a little to see what the senior member thought about this.

"Well…" Baron stalled for time, looking at Mira and Ace and how they conveyed with no words how they wanted him to pick their side. He didn't like how that would mean going against the other when they were meant to be a team.

Lucky for him, he didn't need to respond as his Bakugan partner did it for him. "We thought it best to stay out of it this time around. When those two argue, it can go on for a while."

"Cute," Zero didn't pretend he couldn't see a non-answer when he saw one. How fun it is to be the one who would have to handle angering the one whose side he didn't pick. "Well…if you're abstaining, then it does leave us in a deadlock, but we hold the tie-breaking votes." Still, he was nothing if not someone who excelled when put on the spot. In fact…there was a ploy he could use here.

He turned his head towards Sirenoid, who had remained silent even as she rode on his shoulder since he entered the room.

"Sirenoid, why don't you choose for both of us? " he asked, the rest of the room sharing a glance but ultimately deciding to wait for what she would have to say.

"Ace isn't wrong in his assessment that focusing on the controller helps the Bakugan as a whole. It's the smart play." Sirenoid kept it short, and it seemed like she sided with Ace's argument.

"But," Her angelic voice hit them like a tidal wave. "I refuse to leave my fellow Bakugan at risk of the whims of our oppressors. We're taking the longer route."

"Well, then it's decided. We'll take the longer route." Zero clapped his hands together, ending the discussion without even trying. Ace looked like he wanted to argue but bit his tongue and moved to take a seat with a huff. Mira looked relieved, though she tried to hide it.

Zero didn't wait for any words from her, if they were to come, as he went and took the on the other side of the bridge to Ace, who no doubt wouldn't be willing to let bygones be bygones between them. Mira also sat, allowing the bridge to fall silent as they waded through the water.

Unseen by them, they had already been spotted. For a little over an hour now, a small mechanical ornithopter the size of a bee had been following them. It kept to its rear, but its powerful camera kept them well in sight, transmitting this data to its handler.

Volt liked to think of himself as one of the more level-headed members of the Vexos, as low a bar as that was, but he felt pure anger. He had been sent to investigate some mysterious brawler, only to get blindsided by some masked freak's bombing.

'As if I don't deal with that already.' He saw Spectre in his head, the Pyrus brawler whose name and face were unknown to any of them. He didn't even think his Highness or that weasel, Gus, knew who was under the mask.

No, he didn't want more of that, especially when this one went and stole sensitive government records under his watch. The report he had to give the night prior had been…hard to get through. His saving grace was that he wasn't in charge of security and sent for a different matter, but he kept it to himself that he didn't believe them to be disconnected. What were the odds of a strange brawler with no history appearing a month before a masked criminal?

He didn't believe that the universe just did things, however small. There was a reason, and his gut was telling him this was part of that. A witness had noticed his target being chased by a woman whose description matched up with a particular thorn in their side, so he sent out several bee drones overnight, both in the city and outside of it, and one of them had just reported in.

"Looks like I've found two birds for the price of one." Volt thought aloud as he confirmed the location and estimated target. They were a ways away but limited by their vehicle's low speed. He could catch them in about 2 hours if he left now.

Once they had hit land, they sped down their agreed path, quickly finding a patch of forest they could transverse. Lelouch noted that despite the size of their base, the trees around them were even larger, creating a canopy tall enough that they could travel beneath it, making it that much harder to spot them from the sky.

The cover also meant that when lunchtime came, they could all head down to the heading down to the cafeteria for lunch, a meal prepared by their latest member who, without batting an eye…at least, they thought he didn't bat an eye, went about the kitchen like a top chef, and when he was done, presented them with what seemed to be a simple broth but-

"This is delicious!" Baron cried tears of joy as he nearly shoveled more into his mouth.

"Baron, try not to be so loud." Mira sighed, even though she ate their lunch faster than usual. Ace remained silent as he followed her example.

"Oh, come on, Mira. You agree with me, right?" Baron's response went without a reply, not that it needed one, as Zero chuckled. The masked man had removed the cape and replaced it with an apron as he finished cleaning the pots and pans he used to prepare their lunch.

And to think, all because of a throwaway comment from Ace about how good breakfast was.

"Our masked member knows his way around a stove." Ace joked, his words having a little bite to them as he continued to drink the broth that had been prepared for them. The boy wondered just how Zero managed to bring such flavors out of the ingredients they had in their pantry.

Zero spared them a glance before he went back to cleaning; he loathed leaving dishes to stack. "When I bother to do something, I make sure I do it right; that includes learning how to cook." There was also the fact that he was, for years, Nunnally's primary caregiver and wished to give her something resembling luxury. He was not helped by the fact that he was the only competent cook in the council, with only Milly knowing her way around a kitchen, and she rarely did.

Of course, that wasn't something he wouldn't share with them…no, yet. 'Wait…not yet?' He asked himself. Since when did he…damn, Wavern's influence really was bringing out the best in him, wasn't it? Still, he took some dark amusement in the fact his 'best' still had him make these vestals earn his trust before they would learn a damn thing about him. They couldn't hurt him and would have no reason to go to earth, but he wasn't someone who worked under assumptions. He'll get proof that the reward was worth the risk and then reveal himself, and not a moment sooner.

He was reaching for a glass when the ship unexpectedly shook. Zero shifted without thinking to keep his balance and grabbed the glass before he dropped it. He looked back to the others, who were already on their feet.

"What was that?" Ace asked as Mira turned and dashed out.

"An attack?" Baron sounded as the shift shook again, this one closer than the last one.

Zero easily stripped off his apron and reached for his cape, fastening it on as he turned and rushed through the halls, following their dear leader. "Well, it can only be one party then."

Getting to the bridge, they found she was already present and close to the windows. It was clear why, as outside, they saw an aircraft flying around them. Each time it got close, it shook the ship, its engines sounding like a jet's thrust concentrated.

"That's a Vexos ship, and its colors mean it belongs to." Ace's frown grew larger as, finally, the ship came to a stop before them. From its cockpit, Volt rose, glaring down at them, arms crossed like a demi-God about to smite them.

"The Bakugan Resistance and I bet you picked up a new member, haven't they, Alban?" Volt called out, spotting the group in the windows, including the one he was sent to handle.

It was his lucky day, as he could deal another blow to the nuisance and resistance and get some data on this Alban character. Still, his scowl didn't shift as he hoped this would be at least entertaining. "Well, this won't be like yesterday. They won't be any running, so get out here and show me what you're made of."

Well…no battle this chapter, but next, oh boy, will there be a battle, and I'm gonna make damn sure it's worth it as I can't afford to make members of the Vexos look weak, can I? Lelouch is many things, but he's not nearly as experienced as the others(well, he's better than Baron, but at this stage, that's not much), nor is he as powerful as Dan and Drago.

The next chapter will be out March 6th

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