Capital Habitat, Deep Kingdom of Subnautica, Leviathan's Trench

Novo Franklin, Periphery Space

January 3rd, 2981 AD

I stared down at the new map markers that were added to the holographic map of Novo Franklin over the last week. Fifteen Architect sites had been discovered so far, and most of them were centered around the Northern Ocean about underwater volcanos and deep reefs. The first of them to be discovered however was right here in this trench he had chosen.

It made sense to a degree given how the Architects operated, but it was still a shock to him to have a site to readily accessible. Well...if he were playing the game, this location would actually be one of the final locations of the game to reach given where it was, and probably filled with terrifying Leviathans of some kind.

Each Site wasn't a single facility, but rather a location possessing a half dozen or so such facilities, plus one to two dozen smaller artifacts scattered about the site location.

The one in this trench had six facilities. One was a centralized Phase Gate transportation hub. I was over the moon that I had access to that technology, even though it was too far in advancement for us to currently reproduce beyond one in space. Emma more or less "remembered" how to make one once she had access to the device, and took it upon herself to design the space bound facility.

The gate within this facility was beyond useful for more than the technology it provided, as it could be used to open a path to all sites that were connected. The main issue was that they lacked power however, and needed to be powered to allow a connection to occur. So, I needed to send out teams of exploration subs to find them and power them up.

Which brought me to Ion Cubes. Which I now had access to with the Growth Forge the gate facility possessed. When I first saw it in the flesh, it was beautiful. The best way to describe it was like…watching a newly born flower in the evening sun. It was captivating, with an ethereal quality that could not be denied.

I wanted the Ion Cubes and their resulting technology for the power they generated, but with both my peak human functioning brain, biosynthetic mods, my Rick-ness, I was not only able to quickly figure out how they were made and what other functions the possessed, but what they potentially could do beyond what they could already give.

I was already redesigning old technologies, and researching new ones to take advantage of this. To facilitate this, I had to create a testing facility in another part of the trench that was a big box that was miles in size, but mostly hollow. I reinforced it further in case something…catastrophic happened inside or outside and caused a breach. Repair Drones with Ion Power Cells were on standby for such an event.

One of the first weapons I was able to make in this manner were good ol' Laser weapons. I now had UV and X-Ray Lasers that can be mounted on a mech. Followed that were Autocannons that fired Ion Rounds, which made them into nuclear machine guns. I had to shave the size of the ion chunks inside the warhead tips to make them safe for use, as it was like firing Davy Crocketts and very nearly caused a breach when it was fired for the first time.

I kept it as an option for artillery however. It wasn't War-Crimes-O'Clock yet, but I can very quickly make it so with such ammunition.

The smallest I could make Ion Rounds, currently, were heavy weapons for Power Armor and anti-mech grade weapons. I couldn't arm my infantry with such just yet. Nano-Fabrication technology from Subnautica, let alone the Covenant, were precise enough to quickly fabricate small arms ammunition. Ion Cube shavings were finicky as they hadn't enough mass to keep the energy contained. It either spontaneously exploded when shaved that small, or just lost the charge. I'm certain the Architects could do it, but I didn't have all their stuff yet.

That was only the most immediate things we could weaponize with the new power cell technology and raw Ion Cubes available to us. I already had plans to see about creating Ion Cube powered engines for spacecraft, aerospace fighters, land vehicles, mechs, the works. Potentially I could create a better Hyperdrive than what is currently used in the Inner Sphere, but that's a time off.

I walked away from the Hologram, and back into the lab where Breeze was floating about, now surrounded by a dozen holographic screens with different projects. I had been worried I was working the snail too hard, but they just waved me off and said they were much happier than they ever were with the Covenant. I took them at their word and didn't make an issue of it, though I told them to take a break once in awhile.

"Do that yourself." It replied at the time.

A wry grin formed on my face as I reminisced, thinking back on all the time I had been in this world. It was an endless amount of work when it came down to it. Granted, I took the path and accepted my choices, but it was the hardest I ever worked in my life…actually, no, that's not accurate.

It wasn't so much how hard it was, but how constant it was. Even if I was taking it easy, I was still working and doing things that needed done. I guess, given how my old life was, it wasn't that much of a change, except in scale and complexity.

I paused as I felt a star falling from the forge. I felt it miss, and went back to the list of the facilities we had catalogued in detail so far. I felt immense relief when I learned that the Karare Bacteria was not brought along for the ride with the Architect sites, as the false "Lore" we uncovered from the various sites was that this world had been closed off from the rest Architects empire. The infection had gotten through anyways and began wreaking havoc as it had elsewhere, and like the main setting of the game, the Architects uploaded themselves into a storage unit to await reuploading.

Whether I had an entire civilization worth of Architects on this world now or not was something I was very worried about for many reasons. However, while the Architects might be here, the bacteria wasn't not since it appeared that the transference was just their technology and sites, and nothing biological. The Architect scanners, which were far more advanced than anything including the Covenant based ones Shelma gave us, did a scan of each site they had a connection to, and the Karare detection showed negative findings.

Well…I was assuming it hadn't come through. We hadn't found all of the sites, and evidently, there might be about thirty more major sites around the world. If it did come, I would immediately freak out, calm down, and do everything in my power to contain the area it was present in.

Breeze floated over, showing me a new item.

"A new site has been discovered. It's on an archipelago near the equator. It's a space port!"

I blinked and immediately pulled up the data. "Please tell me we have ships."

Breeze nodded excitedly, waving a tentacle and showing me photos of ships on landing pads. They were made of that Architect alloy we discovered was much stronger than Plasteel by an order of magnitude. We now called it Arcitecium after its creators. Their design immediately reminded me of something.

"They look like Forerunner ships."

"I noticed the similarities myself, and given the advanced biotechnology the Forerunners possessed themselves, it appears to be a case of parallel development despite being a universe away. It makes same wonder if advanced races gravitate towards similar designs once they reach a certain state of development."

I shrugged. "I can't say myself, but I think the Scryve from Star Control might disa…" then I paused and gave that race a bit more thought, specifically to what they do to their "client" races, and their ship designs compared to other, similarly leveled races across the multiverse.

"Actually, you might have something there." I admitted.

"You will have to tell me who the Scryve are at a later time. For now, I think I should personally go to site. I can figure out the ship's computer architecture a lot faster than anyone else. Allow us to take control of these assets sooner than later."

I felt myself wince slightly before looking at Breeze. I felt hesitation at what is my first companion, aside from Emma. Breeze saw my hesitation and laid a tentacle on my shoulder.

"It will be alright. I'll keep in constant contact, and will have Biosynths with me. Plus, a contingent of our most powerful combat units. Nothing will harm me with that protection."

I stared at Breeze before letting out a long sigh.

"Alright, but you arm yourself…alright. I'm being silly. Of course you will take your combat suit."

Breeze gave a smug whale call. "Of course."

Said combat suit was one Breeze, Emma, and I designed using the cutting edge of all the technology trees we have access to. Arcitecium armor, anti-gravity, force fields, linear cannons now equipped with ion rounds, UV-Laser repeaters, Nano-repair hives, seeker launchers, the works. This thing was a miniature mobile combat fortress under the control of a living super computer. One wouldn't think so when looking at it, because it was a simple orb of the green alloy. It was when it started fighting that it revealed the monster it was.

I nodded. "Alright. Head out when you are ready, be sure to say goodbye to Emma before you do."

Breeze nodded before returning to the holograms around it, which I could see where preparation manifests for the trip. We both stopped when the door opened and Emma came jogging through, a look of concern on her face.

"What's up?" I frowned as I approached her.

Glancing to me, she slowed to a walk and held up her holographic interface. "We have a communique from Carson Emeri. This is important and you need to speak to him personally."

I raised a brow, and nodded. "Send it to the office." I ordered as I walked into the private space.

Sitting down inside of the windowless room, I adjusted my clothes to look more presentable and opened the line.

Carson's face appeared, and he had grown a small beard since I last saw him.

"Carson. Nice to hear from you, but given the urgency of Emma, I take it this isn't a social call?" I asked, getting to the point.

Carson gave a wry grin. "I'm afraid not. It looks like our neighbors are finally wising up to the happenings around here and are getting antsy. In just the last few days, I've had threats, offers of alliance, trade deals, and declarations of war if I didn't share the 'bounty' I had fallen upon."

I frowned grimly. "Anyone looking to earn an ass kicking?" I growled.

Carson barked a laugh. "Well, I'm glad your ready to throw down again if it happens, but not at the moment. Most of these are just people poking to see what's what. Speaking of which, Comstar has seen fit to offer a small branch in our territory for easier access to their services. I said 'sure' and now they have a branch thanks to the fabricators."

I nodded. I only hoped they didn't try to…oh who am I kidding, of course they'll try to peel the walls to see what made the habitats tick.

"I'm glad to hear that. Precentor Hyung was very cordial, and not just because of our toys." I smirked.

Carson snorted. "When you are as advanced as Terra supposedly, it keeps the arrogance in check." He shook his hand. "Anyways, I can handle these things, but one of the people who spoke to us is a longtime ally. They've been listening to our broadcasts on the radio, and on a visit they got a good look at the benefits of our alliance and wanted to be a part of it. I would have just given him some stuff, but…I had an inkling of an idea."

I leaned forward, placing my hands on the desk. I had been about to speak when I felt another star fall. It missed, and I moved on with the discussion. "Go on."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"When I asked if he was sure, he admitted in the past he would have asked me to go behind your back. I would have too, if I might be honest." He admitted slightly ashamed.

"I understand, and wouldn't blame you for it. We got great toys." I grinned, keeping it light.

He appeared relieved and smiled. "I'm glad you see it that way. That being said, he instead asked to join because of one thing specifically. The Greater Good. It appears he was quite taken with the whole idea of how we are going about it. Normally it would be an act of naivety, but seeing the benefits, and how well off my people are as a result, he came around to it."

I give a look of surprise, though in truth, I wasn't. I expected this in fact. Sooner or later people would be influenced enough by the Greater Good to willing hand themselves over to the greater whole. I nodded at him.

"I'm happy he shares our views. Is he aware of what you and I get out of our alliance?"

"I explained it to him, and he was surprised at how simple it was given the technology and power involved, but when he saw your technology in action, he understood the weight and reason for it."

Carson leaned forward. "As a long time ally of this man and his family, I can vouch for his intentions and believe we should allow him into this alliance of ours."

I leaned back. I stayed silent, in thought about the things I need to become aware of if this were to go forward. I wanted to grow this alliance more until the world was under control.

"Alright. Is he there with you now?"

Carson grinned. "He is, I can bring him into this-"

I waved off and shook my head. "I have one better. How about we speak, face to face about this."

Carson grin wider. "Even better. I'll ready some lunch for-"

I waved him off again, this time I smirked.

"No, this time, I'll bring you both here for lunch, and discussion."

Carson froze before sitting down slowly, eyes wide. "To Subnautica?"

I nodded. "Your son is here, and I invited Comstar due to their being extranational organization, so it's only fair I finally invite you, yours, and our prospective ally to see the capital with your own eyes."

Carson's eyes widened further before he nodded vigorously. "I accept your invitation."

I smiled. "Alright. Take a ride to Seabreak, and I'll give you a ride down. Just send a list of how many people you are bringing before you do so I know how many subs to send."

After a bit of detail hashing, I closed down the transmission and leaned back in the chair before standing up and getting to work.

Only for two stars to suddenly fall. I paused for a moment, and felt them both get taken into my soul.

-Particle Physics (Bioshock Infinite) (300CP)

You are an extremely well-educated physicist and have a fine working knowledge of Lutece particles. Use of such particles allows you to cause massive objects to float or hover, even whole buildings and cities.

-I Know What We're Going To Do Today (Phineas and Ferb) (400CP)

24 hours just doesn't seem like enough time to get stuff accomplished, but you'd be surprised what determination (and this perk) can get you. You can now complete days and even weeks worth of work in just a few hours, and this effect increases tremendously when you have a few helpers, to the point where a small team can work with you to complete years worth of work in a simple afternoon.

"FUCK!" I yelped as I fell to the floor grabbing my head in agony. Soon the pain passed to a mild soreness, and I slowly stood up, still holding the side of my face.

"Well…I can make things super fast now. Awesome…also…"

I look up with a scowl. "I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU TWO FUCK WITH ME, I WILL PERSONALLY SHOVE RYAN'S LIGHT HOUSE UP. YOUR. ASS!!!"

I waited for a reply, some glib comment about how there are two of them even if truthfully, they are in fact the same person, only to receive silence, and I nodded with satisfaction that at least I didn't have to deal that that bag of bullshit. Hopefully. I like Elizebeth, as many do, but she's just more than I want to deal with.

"Shifts with Breeze! I got new things, put that trip on pause for a bit!" I shouted as I walked out of the office.

In the silence of the now empty, and darkened office…the air flickered for only a moment, and a silver dollar fell onto the office chair. It landed tails up.

"….Interesting."

----------------------------------------

Capital Habitat, Deep Kingdom of Subnautica, Leviathan's Trench

Novo Franklin, Periphery Space

January 5th, 2981 AD

Devlin Fields stared in open awe and excitement as he gazed upon the shining city, he and others heard only rumors over. His seven-foot-tall, well-muscled frame leaned far over the railing as he looked as far below the Cyclops viewport as he could, only Carson pulling him back on his cape preventing him from nearly falling over, again.

Initially he dismissed Subnautica, and everything regarding them as ridiculous tall tales, until they started involving his friend Carson Emeri. He finally called upon his friend when he finally heard the rumors grow into an alliance between the undersea kingdom and his, looking to get some facts.

He hardly could believe his own friend when he confirmed everything, and then invited him over for a visit. He wasn't able to, but he took the invitation for a later time and was given a radio frequency. The radio signals he had heard over time shifted his views as he listened more and more, and came to realize something big was happening.

Devlin changed his views completely when his childhood friend suddenly made a road to the edge of their borders, and then to his town, and right into his castle. Seeing the machines and workers in stark white and aquamarine place ferrocrete on the ground as easily as you put a coat of paint on a wall was astonishing.

All the while his friend grinned like a cat who caught the canary.

That day, Carson showed his toys that he gained from Subnautica, and how absolutely insane fighting a war with them for the technology would be with pictures one of the Queen's guards took of the fleet when the Sovereign met with his friends' wife in an official capacity.

The rom of the one unit, a Milita-mech equivalent of all things, utterly trounced the invading forces that nearly killed his friend. He was furious when he learned that little bit and was ready to murder the leftovers, when his friend laughed and eased him down.

Then he told the whole story. A lord of the deep, somehow a 'guest' of his empire, took part as a levy for two battles, and the resulting alliance. He was then showed the old empire, versus the new. Then Carson gave details of the alliance, and of the gifts he gave over as a measure of friendship. A dropship and mechs.

He couldn't help himself. He wanted in, right there. If the benefits were that great, he'd be an idiot for not joining.

He convinced his friend to call on the Sovereign, and was ready to give the best sales pitch of his life when the Sovereign instead invited Carson and himself to the Undersea Kingdom's capital.

He didn't refuse, and went that very day with a handful of his people he could get on short notice. Now everyone of Emeri's family, and of himself and his entourage, were staring at a wonder straight out of myth.

"By the Devil's Tits, they really are an undersea kingdom!" He guffawed loudly. Glancing over to Carson, he gave a wide grin. "And this is your first time?"

Carson nodded, holding his youngest who looked out in wide-eyed wonder.

"He was going to invite me later, but we both had a lot of work to do. Him reasserting himself, and I rebuilding and upgrading our holdings and quality of life. I suppose he just decided to do that now."

With a laugh he shook his head. "That or he saw this as killing two birds with one stone. I'm impressed enough by what you had, but this, bah! If I were more suspicious, I'd say it was compensating for something!"

Carson gave a dry grin. "He's not the type to measure himself to other men's…abilities."

Devlin rolled his eyes before grinning a devil-may-care grin.

The rest of the ride was more rubber-necking until they got into the port. Something they call a "Moon-Pool". Why they call it that, he had no idea. It sounded fancy enough he supposed.

Upon opening to the chamber, Carson smiled as his son Harold stood in a clean and stylish uniform of some kind. The two embraced, as did the Queen and young ones. Devlin's eyes however were on the beauty that stood by with a small grin as the family began their jabbering.

She was statuesque for a woman, a little over six feet tall, fit with military dress and the unmistakable makings of a warrior. A Battlemech Patch on her left shoulder and on her…generous chest, marked her as a mechwarrior. She appeared older than young Harold.

"Father, Mother, allow me to introduce the head instructor of my education. Colonel Martress"

Martress stepped forward with a click of her heels and gave a salute before shaking hands.

"A pleasure to meet you all. Your son is under my tutelage while in our care, and has been doing well so far."

Harold flushed slightly in surprise at her, standing a bit taller. "Though he's still just meat for the moment." She added with a hint of a smirk, causing the boy to slump.

Carson and Devlin held in laughs, reminiscing for a moment of their own tutelage. They were called far worse.

"I am however here in an official capacity as the Sovereign wishes for me to escort you to him. He's currently overseeing some new equipment he wants to show off."

Turning to Harold, the Colonel spoke in a commanding manner. "Cedet Emeri, you are to take your family, and have a good time. Understood?"

"Yes Maam!" he replied before being dismissed, leading his mother, sister, and little brother a small portion of their entourage and guards. They boarded a tram, and waved at Carson as they took off.

With only the remnants left, Colonel Martress nodded just as a new tram arrived.

"Lord Emeri, Lord Fields, Arms Masters, if you would please follow me."

They followed, with Devlin getting a good look at her derriere as she walked into the Tram. Carson nudge him with a wry grin. "It's quite the view." He said openly with a grin.

"Wait till we get moving." Martress stated, glancing over her shoulder directly at Devlin. The look in her Amber eyes caught him holding a breath for a moment. They stared deeply before the corners of her moth lifted up a little, and turned away with a toss of her hair. Carson nudged him again, expression practically saying "DO EEEET!"

Later…he'll shoot his shot later.

The tram ride showed off the city, which caught their attention in many ways. Eventually however, they ended up going on a line that was not a part of the civilian network, and ended up traveling off the capital and into a tunnel that went out of the city and into the deep dark. The tram sped up to a boggling three hundred kilometers per hour. For two minutes they rode in the deep black before a huge block of white appeared in the distance.

It was gigantic, and both Caron and himself stared in grim expressions. The amount of resources to create a building of this size, at this depth, defied their understanding.

Soon the Tram passed through a checkpoint, and Martress turned to face them.

"What you are about to see here is not a state secret, but not known outside of Subnautica. Per our alliance agreement, you Carson, will be privy to the development of these technologies."

She turned and her amber eyes delved into his.

"You are here as an invitee, but should you join the alliance, you will also be privy to developments here. Please keep what you see here to yourself." She stated with a hint of firmness.

Devlin however, read between the lines. While he was always more hands on than most, he had a lord's education, and realized the implications on several levels. An unspoken threat, carrot and stick, and bait, all in one. He grinned at her, challenge in his eyes. She raised a small brow, eyes twinkling before the room was bathed in red. A light like a laser passed over everyone, then a green one, and finally a blue one, before the light returned to normal.

Soon they entered a small loading zone with lockers and seats, passing through another security checkpoint, before going into room overlooking an enormous white chamber that…appeared like the surface world.

Devlin blinked and head swiveled left, right, up, and down at the landscape. It looked like the surface. Blue skies, grassy fields with rocky plateaus. It seemed to stretch for miles in all directions, and he had to look behind them to make certain the wall was still behind them.

"What the hell is this?" Carson's right-hand man, Man-At-Arms Robert Halsely, exclaimed as he looked at everything.

Confusion gave way to alarm when a distant explosion filled the air that appeared sizable. The ball of flame and smoke rose up before being blown to and fro by two points of light that appeared. They moved with speed, but the details were not apparent until Colonel Martress pressed a hand on the window, and an image of…

"Holograms." Someone said before the window was filled up with two video images of two machines, with the image edge point out which was which.

Both were sleek looking mechs of a type he had never seen before. Incredible pillars of flame burned from small parts of their bodies as they maneuvered about. Less like aircraft but more like…he did not know what to call it. Devlin's heart was pumping as his eyes focused upon the second machine. It lacked legs entirely, instead possessing what looked like pontoons with rocket thrusters built into specific portions.

Despite this strange design, the mechs was fast…insanely fast. It hugged the ground in an ground-force effect and moved flawlessly about the terrain, no matter how impossible that should have been given how rough the terrain was. They fired bolts of green and beams of white at one another as they maneuvered in order to get a clean shot, often dodging away before the shot was fired.

"C'mon Blue! Show that Red what for!" he shouted. Having gotten into it, Colonel Martress giving a grin at him with a raised brow before looking back at the battle.

After this back and forth, the blue machine finally got a hit on the red, and Devlin found himself shouting in cheer. The fast pace of the battle got him pumped up! This was amazing! HE WANTS ONE!

The sound of a horn filled the air, and the battle promptly stopped.

"Kill score. Battle complete. All units return to holding."

Colonel Martress grinned as she turned around and led them down to the mech bay where several machines like the one in the battle-rom were standing and being cared for and modified here and there. As they rode in a ground car down the line, he was in silent awe of the metal titans he was walking between, and quietly intimidated when he realized he was looking at what appeared to be several regiments worth of machines.

Eventually they stopped and it was before the blue machine they had just seen. Devlin jumped out like a school boy and stood in front of the machine.

"Look at you! You're even better up close!" He shouted with a wide grin.

Colonel Martress walked over and took his arm and pulled him away. "Eh? Wha-why!? Aw c'mon let me look at it!"

Martress giggled quietly and Devlin blinked before grinning. Oh, he was taking this one for sure! They stopped by Carson and the group, being released by the Colonel who then stood to attention.

The action made him blink before noticing where she, and other soldiers in their group, were looking.

A pilot with a full suit and helmet came down on a metal cable that provided a foot and hand hold, before jumping off and onto the ground.

"Woo, that was a rush." The pilot said as he pulled off his helmet revealing a young man. Devlin was already walking forward and inches from the man's face when he finally noticed Devlin literally in front of him.

"Uh! Woah there. Who-" Devlin grinned and put his hands on the pilot's shoulders.

"That was some of the best piloting I have ever seen, and this machine is amazing! You have to tell me about it!"

The man stared, befuddled before looking over towards Carson, who looked stricken at him, palm on his forehead whenever he rushed headlong into things.

"What? I wanna know about this amazing machine! If this is something the Sovereign is making, than we're gonna get along!"

He then saw Colonel Martress who looked torn between laughing her head off, and tearing his off.

"Devlin…my friend…that pilot is the Sovereign." Carson said in a suffering tone.

He blinked, before looking back down at the young man, who was grinning at him with am amusement. He stare for a moment before shrugging and pulling the Sovereign into a bro-hug with one arm.

"Well that just makes this easier!" he shouted before giving a cheerful laugh.