APE Central HQ Council – Lamarck Club

"This is a complete disaster!" Gorilla bellows, "How could this happen? How could our entire network just go down like this?" "Now, now, let's not lose our temper, my friend," Lemur interjects to calm him down.

"This was no mere coincidence," Baboon speaks up, "Moments before Squad 13's deployment our network suddenly goes down. Hours later, the very same squad is nowhere to be found leaving us no choice but to retreat from the Crevasse for now."

"We were so close!" Marmoset scoffs. "Have our satellites found them yet?" the Vice Chairman asks. "No," Tarsier replies while looking at several screens with footage and data around him, "It's strange, as if Squad 13 has completely vanished. The area surrounding the Gran Crevasse is mostly open terrain with scattered mountains and a few ruined cities but there isn't anything we can't see from orbit."

"It should be obvious by now that this was their doing," Baboon states matter of factly, "Or at least they had some part in it. I cannot fathom how any of them could have possibly been able to accomplish something like this." "Werner is responsible for this test team," Marmoset remarks, "We should bring him in for questioning."

"I'd go as far as to say that he is behind all of this," Baboon comments. "But what would he stand to gain by this? Surely, he isn't in league with the Klaxosaurs and their princess," Lemur adds, "That is just ridiculous." "I think he got a little too close to the enemy," Baboon argues.

"Enough!" Papa speaks up, silencing the council, "Werner will be brought to Kosmos station and shall remain here until the situation is resolved and our investigation is complete."

"What about Plantation 13?" the Vice Chairman inquires, "Its repairs have been completed, yet it has no value to us without a parasite squad."

"It no longer holds any value to us. Withdraw all magma reserves and reassign its staff where they are needed," Papa replies.

"And what do we do with the vault? It can't be opened without Code 002, we already tried with brute force," Gorilla asks.

Instead of answering, Papa turns his head towards Baboon and inquires, "What is the status of Hringhorni?" "Construction has just completed, Papa," Baboon replies humbly, "All we need to do is launch it into the orbit and dock it with the frame."

"Then make that APE's utmost priority for the time being," Papa concludes, "It is high time for a demonstration of its power. In the meantime, withdraw the remaining Plantations from the Gran Crevasse and have them scout the region for Squad 13. They cannot hide forever."

"Yes, Papa," the council replies in unison.

XXXXXX

Two days have passed since your escape from Plantation 13 and APE's grasp. Suffice to say that it is quite the experience. In that time you've managed to properly set up your makeshift home in the city's central plaza and its surrounding buildings.

Most of the squad spends the first days exploring their city while Ryoken and Misaki, possessing the largest knowledge of the old world, explain various things and aspects to them. Ichigo, as the squad leader, can't stop telling them to be careful. Of course, Goro helps her in every way he can so that she won't overwork herself between looking after everyone and keeping everything in order.

Another thing that hasn't gone unnoticed by you is that some of the pistil stamen pairs in your squad seem to be growing closer to each other, namely Mitsuru and Kokoro. Perhaps they've been observing you and Zero Two. Simillary, the two of you have been spending a lot of time together away from the rest of the squad, exploring the city during the day and gazing at the stars each night until you'd fall asleep in each other's embrace. You're certain that this is the happiest you've ever seen her.

However, just because you live on your own now doesn't mean that you let your guard down. Every day, at least one Franxx patrols the outskirts of the city with its sensors set to maximum. It was your only way of detecting anything that might come from the outside. Strictly speaking, APE could come knocking at your door at any moment. All it would take is a single scouting party from a Plantation to find you here and then the jig would be up.

It was a few hours after breakfast that you heard from today's patrol, Gladiolus, that they had found something of interest and called everyone to gather at the plaza. Naturally, everyone shows up roughly at the same time before Gladiolus arrives and her pilots exit the cockpit.

"So, what did you find?" Ryoken asks just as Hiro and Naomi reach the group.

"We picked up a lot of air traffic on our long-range sensors, specifically those larger shuttles that are used to carry Franxx or magma fuel tanks moving north-east of here or going south," Naomi explains, "We kept our distance and watched for a few hours until it finally died down."

"I'm guessing you investigated where they came from?" you ask to which Hiro nods, "Yes, they came from an S-Planning site that is being abandoned by the looks of it."

"An S-Planning site? Like the one we used to guard that one time?" Futoshi asks. "Correct," Hiro replies, "And there wasn't a Franxx squad to protect it either."

"Makes sense since they are abandoning it," Goro chimes in as he looks over to Ichigo, "What do you think?" "We could use this opportunity to raid it and take whatever magma fuel might be left and we might also learn what these sites are for in the first place, but..." she replies but trails off.

"It's dangerous, but it's a risk we should take," you remark, drawing the attention to you, "We're going to run out of supplies here eventually, so we might as well stock up."

"Then let's form a plan and strike while there is the least amount of activity there," Mitsuru comments. "Agreed!" Zorome practically yells, earning him a slap on the back of his head by Miku who was standing right next to him.

XXXXXX

The plan is pretty straightforward. You barge into the S-Planning site while they have their hands full with evacuating it, steal whatever magma fuel they have left, get some information if you have the time, and get out. Argentea carries two empty containers to take in any other supplies you can find.

Most of your Franxx's systems are offline to preserve fuel and to avoid detection as much as possible. Of course, once you're there, they will definitely notice you, but by the time they can call for any kind of backup you'll be long gone.

After a while of speeding through the barren wastelands, the S-Planning site slowly comes into view. On your right Strelizia wears a disgusted look on her face through the monitor.

"What's wrong, Zero Two?" you ask. "The disgusting stench of these sites," she growls, "I hate it." Now that she mentions it, you can smell a mix of something metallic and organic in the air, though it is rather faint.

"Alright, everyone," Delphinium announces, "Let's get this done. We're about to enter their short-range sensors!" "Roger that! Full speed ahead!" Zorome exclaims.

Squad 13 increases their speed towards the S-Planning site, which is a circular fortification with a gaping hole in the ground at its center, though not visible from the outside.

"Valkyrie breaking off," Ryoken announces. "Strelizia breaking off," you add as the two Franxx go for the docking bay.

The others are to disable any defenses the S-Planning site might have while you access its systems from the inside to find out where they keep the fuel and supplies.

Upon arriving outside the docking bay you discover that the gate is, unsurprisingly, shut. However, Valkyrie draws her sword, her pilots speak the words "Shine once more!" and the blade sparks to life. Then, she draws an X on the gate with it before kicking it in with her foot right at the center.

Valkyrie enters the docking bay, followed by Strelizia. The layout is very similar to that of the Plantations and you notice the empty bays for Franxx on the left wall immediately.

Looks like there really is no one here to defend it.

On the right, you can see the room that is responsible for the maintenance of this area with a row of windows that oversee the docking bay. It is roughly the height of a Franxx's shoulders.

Strelizia steps towards the windows and slides with her finger from left to right to destroy the windows. The staff inside it scatters to the back in fear.

"I suggest you lot just sit quietly until we get what we came for," Ryoken says in a threatening tone as Valkyrie holds her blade horizontally and points it into the room. You know that he is just bluffing and that he wouldn't actually go through with his threat to run Valkyrie's blade into them, but he is good at acting like it.

Meanwhile, Strelizia stepped towards the shattered windows and lowers her head so that they are on even height. She then deactivates and the faceplate opens up before you and Zero Two step out and into the maintenance room.

"Alright, let's see what we got," you remark as you access the system while Valkyrie and Zero Two keep watching the personnel.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile...

"Seriously, what are these turrets even for?" Mitsuru says, mildly annoyed, as Genista dismantles another automatic turret, "They are barely able to scratch us and they couldn't kill a Klaxosaur if the site depended on it."

"Intimidation tactics maybe?" Gladiolus ponders. "Against Klaxosaurs? I don't think so," Chlorophytum replies.

The automatic defense turrets of the S-Planning site prove to be no problem for Squad 13. Delphinium swipes with her lances along the walls, taking down turrets left and right while Genista takes out multiple in one shot from her canon. Just as the last turret goes down, a transmission comes in.

"This is (Y/N), do you copy?" you ask over the comms. "We hear you loud and clear, (Y/N)," Hiro replies, "What have you got for us?"

"Well, the systems tell me that the turrets just went offline, nicely done," you begin, "And that there is another gate on the north side of this structure with a tunnel large enough for Franxx that leads all the way to the center. If you follow it about halfway you'll come across a storage depot on ground level to the left, that should be where they keep supplies."

"And the fuel?" Goro inquires. "There is not much left from what I can see on my end," you reply, "Only a bit in the reactors and the machinery near the big hole in the center. I'll keep looking though and let you know if I find anything else."

"Alright, thanks for the info," Delphinium replies before the communication ends. She turns toward everyone else, who all look at her expectantly, "You heard him, let's get to the north gate!" "Roger!"

Making their way to the aforementioned gate, Argentea puts the containers down she was holding and assists Delphinium by cutting a hole with her claws. The pair cut a not quite perfect circle into the reinforced steel gate before they both push against it. The resulting cut out plops down on the other side with a loud thud.

"Argentea and Genista with me," Delphinium orders, "Chlorophytum and Gladiolus, watch our rear."

The five Franxx walk through the tunnel rather fast since there isn't any resistance to speak of. The staff of the S-Planning site that still remain but they wouldn't dream of trying to stop a Franxx on their own. Especially since the automatic defenses are either disabled or destroyed.

About halfway down the shallow grade, they reach the designated location you described earlier and they once again begin to cut a hole in the wall to gain access to the storage. Once that's done, Argentea puts down the two empty containers and opens them before carefully filling them up.

A few minutes later, Argentea picks up the containers before the trio continues further down the hallway. Upon reaching the end, they are greeted by a massive hole that was drilled into the earth with several corresponding machines around it as well as several pipes leading out of it.

"What exactly were they doing here?" Futoshi asks, "This almost looks like they were mining magma fuel."

Delphinium looks around for a bit, then points to a nearby tank with an orange glowing liquid inside, "Well, looks like they definitely were getting magma fuel out of this hole. Let's refuel our tanks. Genista, you go first."

"Okay," she nods as she walks up to the tank and sits down next to it while Delphinium connects the tube to her. While that happens, Gladiolus takes a look around and examines the contents of the carts that are on an assembly line that leads from the hole into the facility, though the entrance is far too small for a Franxx to fit through.

"What is this stuff?" Hiro asks curiously as Gladiolus bends down to take a closer look. It looks like a black and blue mass that is somewhat malleable. "It reminds me of... Klaxosaurs?" Gladiolus adds.

"Let me see," Chlorophytum asks as she joins her.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile...

"That's odd..." you mutter to yourself.

"What's wrong Darling?" Zero Two asks you worriedly when she sees that you suddenly stopped typing on the terminal. "Oh, I just found something that I don't quite understand," you explain, "Does the 'Omega Protocol' mean anything to you?"

Zero Two shakes her head, "No, never heard of it." "What is it?" Valkyrie chimes in.

"Well, according to this, it's a new order issued by the APE council yesterday to all S-Planning sites and Plantations," you elaborate, "It says all S-Planning sites are to suspend production of further Franxx and that all the adults in the Plantations are to be 'prepared' for the transition into 'Valhalla', whatever that means."

"Wait, they were building Franxx in this place?" Ryoken interjects, "With what?"

Just then, a transmission comes in from the rest of the squad.

"(Y/N), can you check something for me?" you can hear Hiro's voice on the other end of the line. "Sure, what do you need?" you reply. "We found some kind of black and blue mass that was being mined, we think it's Klaxosaur tissue," he explains, "Can you check on your end?"

I have a bad feeling about this...

You open up the journal of this facility and the feeling in your gut turns out to be true. The metallic-organic Klaxosaur tissue that is being mined here is used to make Franxx. In other words, Franxx are Klaxosaurs.

"T-The tissue you found..." you mutter, "Is used to build Franxx here..."

You can see Zero Two's and Valkyrie's eyes widen due to this revelation from the corner of your vision and the implications it carries with it.

"Wait, say that again," Zorome interjects over the comms, "It sounded like you said that Franxx are Klaxosaurs just now." "Yes..." you reply, "I did."

There's a moment of silence as everyone tries to process the gravity of this discovery before Delphinium speaks up, "We should get out of here." There is a bit of murmur on the comms but nobody disagrees.

Before stepping away from the terminal, you disable the facilities' communications and get back into Strelizia with Zero Two, the staff from the room still cowering in the corner as Valkyrie aims her blade at them.

Once Strelizia reactivates, she and Valkyrie exit the docking bay and meet up with the rest of the squad halfway.

"How much fuel did you get?" you ask them as you begin to gain distance from the S-Planning site. "We refueled Genista, Chlorophytum, Argentea, and Gladiolus," Delphinium responds, "We can distribute it evenly among us once we're back home."

And with those words, Squad 13 begins their rather silent trip back to the ruined city.

XXXXXX

Plantation 13 – Doctor Franxx's Office

"So, they decided to discard reason and went straight to mass destruction," Dr. Franxx says to no one in particular as he looks at the screen on his desk, "Well, it was going to happen sooner or later but the probability that it would happen this soon was very low. It can't be helped I suppose."

Just then, a knock on the door of his office could be heard.

"What is it, I'm very busy," he replies somewhat irritated. The door slides open to reveal an APE officer with two soldiers in tow.

"Dr. Franxx, the council wishes for your immediate return to Kosmos station," the officer says in a neutral tone. "What? Can't they just tell me what they need over the conference room in the Plantation here?" he replies nonchalantly.

"I'm afraid not, sir," the officer responds, "You are to come with us now."

The doctor squints with his left eye, carefully examining the soldiers' posture. Their weapons seem to be set to stun. They must have figured something out.

He reaches for the cane next to him and begins to slowly walk towards them as he says, "Very well, my pace is a little slow though so you'll have to bear with me a bit."

"Understood," the officer replies.

That last part was purely to annoy them, but it didn't look like it worked. Nevertheless, everything was going according to plan...

XXXXXX

Squad 13 eventually reaches the ruined city and distributes the newly won magma fuel evenly among the Franxx that didn't get the chance to refuel at the site. Each Franxx settles down in their respective locations that they selected prior and reconvene at the plaza to discuss their new information.

You arrive roughly at the same time at the plaza as the rest, but all of you suddenly come to a halt when you see a figure in a black cloak with its back turned on you standing there, looking at everything you set up there.

You, along with Zero Two and a few others, immediately assume a fighting stance preparing to fight whatever just invaded your territory, but then it speaks up.

"Ah, I wondered when you would return," the figure says in a mechanical voice, "I almost started to worry... or at least something similar to that concept."

"Who are you?" you ask the figure in a stern tone.

"Oh, where are my manners," the figure replies as he turns around and takes off his hood to reveal that he is not a being of flesh and blood, but of steel and circuits. A rusty humanoid figure with red paint and unnerving red eyes.

"I am Umbra," he says as he bows formally before your squad, then looks directly at you, "And you must be my new Master."