Xiot waited at the teleporter for Khalek, not saying a single word. He wanted to get this started already. He tried not to think of anything else but the mission that was at hand.

Khalek arrived at the teleporter, there he saw that Xiot was waiting for him. In order not to incur the wrath of his partner, Khalek stepped on the teleporter next to Xiot and waited for it to activate, and send them to the North American cave system, where the the Maverick General Rainly Turtloid resided. Khalek looked up at Xiot for a moment, then he said:

"Good Luck"

Xiot did not respond as they were warped to the entrances of the cave systems. Xiot stretched out his arms and got ready to start. He slipped on his gloves and immediately began walking into the caves systems.

Khalek wasn't surprised that Xiot didn't respond, however he was slightly dispirited by the lack of a response. The teleporter activated, then Khalek found himself with the North American cave system. Khalek observed the system, finding each element of it fascinating.
"Wow" whispered.
He noticed that Xiot started forward with their mission, Khalek gritted his teeth and dashed foward and fell in to line behind Xiot.
"Say, how do we know where to go? Which passages are the right ones? Do we have radio reception down here? If we do can the navigators guide us down the right passages?"

"we guess" he said picking a door and waiting for his partner so they could step through. On the other side of the door was a flock of bat reploids ready to attack. This had been the wrong door. And behind it was a mini-boss. In fact behind every wrong door was mini-boss they'd have to fight. They resembled Dark Dizzy a bit, however less powerful.

This was not the answer that Khalek was hoping to hear, he was hoping that they could have some communication with the Navigators back at the Orbital Elevator Head Quarters, that they could better navigate the stage and be slightly more prepared when they went in to battle with the Maverick General. However Khalek knew that no amount of wishing and pleading would get what he wanted. He knew that they would have to rely only on the information that was given by the Navigators before they had left. He followed Xiot through the first door that had been unlocked. On the other side was a flock of bat reploids. Khalek was far from impressed with this, he looked over at Xiot and said rather sarcastically:
"Great guess"
He pulled out his duel pistols and began firing at the flock, while he was firing he continued on:
"When this is all done, can we study the doors, there must be some pattern that we can use to tilt the percentages towards our advantage"

"You haven't done this much have you kid" he said attack the bat reploids with his energy projections. After a while he noticed something towards the back. Something that was bigger than the bat reploids. As he let Khalek take care of the rest he ran forwards to see another larger bat/vampire type reploid, "Looks like we have to take you out first huh" he said as the reploid got ready to fight and took to flight heading to the top of the cave area. Xiot jumped up and attacked him the best he could, inevitably taking some amount of unavoidable damage.

Khalek didn't bother even reply to the statement that Xiot made towards him. He just continued firing his duel pistols, taking out the rest of the flock of bat reploids. As he was fighting the flock, he noticed that Xiot ran ahead. As Khalek was finishing fighting the flock of bat reploids, he noticed movement coming from the far side of the room. The boss of this room had finally revealed itself. It took the appearance of a vampire/bat reploid. For Khalek this made sense, since the main enemy here was bat type reploids. Once Khalek had taken care of the flock of bat reploids, he ran forward to assist his partner. As he ran forward the vampire/bat reploid took flight heading towards the top of the cave area within the room. Khalek noticed the wall that was close to him and decided to take advantage of this, and the only ability that made him inadvertently useful to the 14th unit, his gliding ability. Khalek began to leap up the wall using his wall kick ability, once he got to the top, he leaped off the wall and deployed his wings, he began to glide through the air. He aimed his duel pistols at the reploids wings and fired. Bullets flew through the air, Khalek could only hope that he could score some damage, and tilt the battle in their favor.

Xiot continued attacks trying to do as much damage as possible. The Reploid turned around to face Xiot and opened his wings realizing dozens more of the bats, "Ok I'm tired of this" he said bring his arms out and charging his gloves. Once they were fully charged he slammed his fist together as his energy projections did the same. He was able to damage the reploid majorly but also send out shockwaves taking care of the bats, "You are through!" he yelled out rushing the reploid and finishing him off with a 3 punch combo, "Tired of that guy" he said as the reploid blew up leaving only scraps behind and unlocking the door they originally came through.

Khalek watched as Xiot finished the reploid in a three hit combo, he titled towards the left to avoid the exploding reploid, once he was clear of the resulting explosion, he retracted his wings and dropped to the ground and landed. He stood where he had landed and reflected on what happened. He was beginning to wonder why he had even been assigned to this mission, because it was quite clear to him that this reploid Xiot could handle the mission by himself. He made a mental note to ask Commander Signas this when they finished this mission. On that he followed Xiot out of the room, now that the door had been unlocked.

Xiot opened the other door and stepped through. Looking through the little light available he noticed only small enemies. A few bat reploids and a few mini soldier. Finally he came to the next two doors. He went to pick one but stopped. He knew that he shouldn't be so reckless. He knew he couldn't handle too many more of those vampire type reploids. He turned to his partner and looked at him while he got ready, "You have any idea how we can make this a wiser decision" he said holding his arm which still hurt from the last battle.

Khalek followed his partner Xiot towards the exit of the room, he remained silent and kept a watch out of any enemies. All that was seen was nothing more than minor enemies, mainly the bat reploids. Once they exited the room Xiot turned to Khalek and said:
"You have any idea how we can make this a wiser decision"
Khalek didn't reply towards Xiot's statment, he just turned his back to him and walked towards the doors and started to examine them. He first studied the doors themselves, they appeared to be nothing more than ordinary doors. The purpose of this was to see if there were any identifiable markers on the doors themselves. He knew that the Reploids working in these caves would have to have something to help them identify the doors, they wouldn't want to end up selecting the wrong door, just like Xiot and him did earlier. The first search of the doors ended in failure, the doors themselves appeared ordinary, no identifiable markers.

However this didn't deter Khalek whatsoever, he began to examine the creases and the outer portions of the door. He brushed his hands over the frame, the purpose of this was to remove any dirt and dust that might have accumulated over the frame, and to feel for any difference in the strata of the frame itself. About halfway down, Khalek felt it, a break in the pattern. He brush his hands over it, and a symbol appeared, it too the shape of an eye. The more he brushed away at it, a color emerged, it was a bloodred eye. Khalek was slightly taken aback by this, due to the fact it appeared so unnatural. He quickly regained his composure and went to the other door and revealed the symbol that was marked. This symbol took the form of a blue eye. He walked back towards Xiot and said:

"There we go, that is how we are going to solve this puzzle, obviously multiple symbols are meant to instill confusion, however if we ID the right symbol, we won't have to fight any more Mavericks and thus conserve our energy for the Maverick General of this region"

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Xiot asked looking at both of them. He understand that it was important however he could not seem to decipher which one was right and which one was wrong, "Do these eyes represent something. Something we've seen or would know. Rainy Turtloid or perhaps Lumine" he said scratching his head. He hated this waiting. The longer they waited the less chance of success their entire mission had. They need to get things done as fast as possible of this was going to be a success.

Khalek studied the eyes while raking his mind in an attempt to figure out the puzzle. He looked at the first eye, it was blood red, and rather menacing to look at, while the blue one look completely natural. He went over the information that was in his mind, what did they know about this Lumine? Well they knew nothing, beyond the fact that he had instigated a rebellion that resulted in X, Zero and Axl being captured. With that Khalek knew that knowledge about Lumine right at the moment wasn't going to be of help here. So he decided to try a simpler approach. These were eye colors, just about everyone Human and Reploids had an eye color.
No...it couldn't be that easy...could it? he thought to himself.
He looked at Xiot and asked "Say...what is Lumine's eye color?"

Xiot shrugged at first unsure of what it was. But suddenly something in him knew. It flashed in front of him. that face, that eye, "....red" he said suddenly unsure of what just happened to him. It was odd to say the least, but he knew it was just the beginning. He knew that if he continued, he'd get answers he seeked. Whether they were pleasant or not. He walked next to Khalek and touched the red eyed door, opening it.

When Khalek first asked his question, he noticed that Xiot was just as confused regarding the puzzle right in front them as he was, the he noticed a change in Xiot's behavior when he answered the question, that being Lumine had red eyes. It was almost identical to what had happened to him back at Orbital Headquarters. Khalek remained silent and followed Xiot towards the door that was marked with the Blood red eye symbol. In the back of his mind, he hoped this was the right door, they would be back to square one, all that work that they had done would be completely worthless. Gripping his duel pistols, Khalek watched as Xiot opened the door and enter the room.

As he walked through the door it lead to a hallway. No enemies, but just a hallway. He peered down it and it lead to another door. He took a step and one of the stalagmites feel from the ceiling right in front of him. He jumped back and looked up as the ceiling was lined with them, "No mavericks but still we could be hurt" he said looking down the hall. He turned to Khalek and nudged his head forward, "how fast are you" he asked

When Khalek stepped through the door and saw that it was nothing more than a hallway with no Mavericks in it, a wave of relief surged through him. It appeared that the duo had picked the correct door. For Khalek he surmised that if all the doors were color coded in this format all they would have to do was pick the door that had the blood-red eye beside it until they reached the Maverick General.

When Xiot stepped in to the hallway, a stalagmite fell from the ceiling. This didn't dampen Khalek's spirits at all, he could handle a small inconvenience like this. He turned to Xiot and replied to his question: "I was given the ability to dash without the need of enhancement, a small inconvenience like this, is of no concern to me"

"good cause I can only evade" he said letting Khalek take the lead. He didn't like this place much. Not much light and bobby trapped left and right. He just wanted to get this done and get out of here as fast as possible.

Khalek looked at Xiot a little shocked at what had been said. He was a little surprised that Xiot couldn't dash, but this more likely the result of the fact that thus far Xiot had literally taken charge of the mission. Khalek regain his composure, absolutely thrilled that he could finally lead (if only for a moment).
"Finally I am useful, this mission was beginning to feel one sided"
He stepped forward and positioned himself at the edge of the doorway, then he dashed forward in to the hallway, and began to dash towards the door (using a zig-zag method), he hoped that he could get enough of the stalagmites down, that Xiot could make it to the door without any problems.

Xiot looked at the stalagmites that fell, and although they were no longer a danger, they blocked most of the way. Xiot looked around and quickly wall climbed the rock wall above the door they entered, He used to jump on top of the stalagmites and jump from one to the other on them. He finally reached the otherside where Khalek stood and nodded in thanks. He opened the next door and found a lobby type room, "You gotta be kidding me" he said looking at 3 more possible choices as 3 doors appeared in front of them, "This place is a maze isn't it" he said sighing,

When Xiot gave a nod of thanks towards Khalek, a small smile came across the young reploid's face. He finally got some recognition from his partner (though he was certain that his would most likely be the only recognition he would receive). Even though he had been slightly helpful, he was still going to ask for the transfer when they got back to Orbital Headquarters.

With that Khalek began to examine the area which they ended up at. The area appeared to some what like a lobby. This put Khalek off slightly, he wouldn't had expected to see such aspects in a cave system. He procceded to move around the room, he first went up to the doors and examined the inner and outer portions. When nothing came up, he was forced to dismiss his previous theory regarding the eye symbol.

"It appears that each area within the cave system, has a different puzzle for use to solve"

He proceeded around the room again, the doors were lit with three torches, he wondered if the torches held any significant to the puzzle that they currently faced. Upon first examination, the torches appeared to be ordinary torches. There was nothing to suggest other wise. Then Khalek reached out with his hand, and gently pulled the first torch that lit the first door. It pulled forward, when it pulled forward, a hidden panel that was located in the middle of the first door activated and a blue diamond revealed itself.

"Ah ha!" said Khalek cheerfully. "Found it!"

He proceeded to the second torched and pulled it forward, the hidden panel behind the second door activated it, revealing a red diamond. Then Khalek activated the third and final torch thus revealing a green diamond that was embedded in the third and final door.

"Okay find the meaning of the diamonds, and we find the fight door that we need to proceed through, got any first thoughts regarding this?"

"Got it" Xiot said walking up the green diamond and creating a fist, smashing it with his energy glove, "Turtloid has green gems on his back" he said as the door opening up and suddenly was blasted with steam. He jumped back quickly as you heard water sizzle within, "We'll, we're getting deeper" he said peering inside at the next dungeon like cave set that they were going to have to pass. The floor was superheated from the pressure. They had to find a way to get across this cave without destroying themselves. The cave wasn't exactly straight either. He could see some drop offs and gaps in the distance that were going to my it even harder to cross. The length alone advised again trying to take the damage and get to the end, "Well this is a conundrum" Xiot said unsure how to pull this one off.

Khalek looked around the room, he had to agree with Xiot assessment of the situation, this was certainly a conundrum. It appear to be almost impossible to cross this area of the cave, without taking damage.
Almost.
Khalek's mind was assessing the situation, thinking of possible solutions that could be used to cross this section of the dungeon. His mind went back to his previous line of thoughts, when they came acrossed the first puzzle. This was a puzzle, it made sense that there had to be solutions, especially considering the fact that the Maverick General's units and the Maverick General himself would have to navigate the maze.
"I wonder..." said Khalek to himself.
If that was the case, Khalek wondered whether or not there would be area of the floor that were not superheated, perhaps areas that would be shielded from the blast of the steam. If that was the case, then all they would have to do is locate them and use them to navigate this section of the cave.
"No worries, I will perform some recon, to see whether or not we can effectively navigate this section"
Khalek used his wall kick to rapidly climb the wall, at the last kick he launched off and expanded his wings and began to glide across the room, looking for any sign that this area could be navigated.

Xiot said nothing at first. but quickly realized something. As long as this corridor was. If there was nowhere to land then Khalek was going to pretty much land at certain death. And unlike a volcano or other heat source, the steam was coming from all directions, not just up, "Turn around!" Xiot yelled out hoping Khalek would her it.

Khalek ignored Xiot and continued glided acrossed the room, tipping and veering around the steam blasts, it was no easy task, the extreme of heat of each blast was rapidly taking it toll on him, he couldn't remain in the air for much longer, soon, very soon he would have to make his way back to Xiot. It wasn't exactly a pleasant prospect, because he didn't didn't doubt that Xiot knew that he had chosen to ignore him, rather than listen to him. Khalek was quite certain that there had to be a way to cross this room, it didn't make any sense to create a puzzle without a solution, especially considering the amount of subordinates that the Maverick General had (unless those subordinates were immune to extreme heat, an aspect that seemed impossible. Although in the back of his mind he was beginning to wonder whether it was true).

Thus far Khalek didn't find anything that resembled a way to cross the room, he noticed the drop offs in the room, he wondered whether or not they were true drop offs, perhaps they hid something else. Khalek made his way towards the drop off, as he neared closer, a blast of steam erupted from the ground.
"Gah" said Khalek, as the steam threw him off course. As he worked to correct himself, he saw it. The mist rained down over the drop off, as it rained down it outlined a platform. Khalek smiled and chuckled lightly, he moved himself towards the platform and folded his wings him. He dropped down pass the drop off and on the platform.
"Found the solution" he called out, hoping Xiot would hear him.