Inside the Slowly decaying pile of what used to be Healthy yet Parasitic Plant life, now slowly dying after being torn apart by the Wreckage and drained of Energy by the Core Crystal, The Core began to move again. Panels opened on the front of the Chassis, and the Pincers and Harvesting lasers inside began to harvest the Biomatter and Wreckage from directly in front of the Core. Soon they had dug a meter into the Pile of Dead Plant and Wreckage, and had run out of mass they could physically Reach.

  Inside the Self-Sufficiency Module the Matter from the Wreckage and the Plant life was quickly Deconstructed by the advanced technology provided by the Crystal Core and turned into Usable Material for Repairs. The Self Sufficiency Module, that inside the Chassis looked nothing more than a Series of Boxes welded to the Outside Hull, hummed as the Chemical and Material Processes of its various Refinery Processes worked on the Salvage. The Usable Material was then moved to an interior Port, where the Self Repair Bots would Dock and have their limited internal Storage Refilled with a highly reactive compound that they would use for Repairs. After using their internally mounted cutting equipment to clear the Damaged Areas of the Chassis of Invading Plant life, they then went along the cut and wrecked edges of holes in pairs. The first one would smooth and cut away any unsalvageable portions while the second would extrude the Compound unto the smoothed Metal, bonding the Hybrid Bio-Metal Compound in a Semi-Temporary Patch until all the Holes and Dents in the Chassis Hull were sealed.

  The Core Powered on, its power no longer being emitted into the depths of the Lake from the holes in the Hull. The Eye Shaped Lights on the Front Powered on, a Deep Red that illuminated the Meter wide Hole dug by the Harvesting Earlier. Then, Panels on the Side Opened up, and its small thruster system activated, while it wasn’t enough to move the Core around in the Atmosphere, in the Water it was enough to move it around with limited grace. At least when it wasn’t stuck in months of Invasive Plant Growth, but it solved that issue quickly enough.

  The Core pushed its rear thrust to Max, pushing it into slightly into the cleared gap before the Plant Life caught it. It then began to alternate thrust to twist it left, then right, then left once more. Deploying the Self Sufficiency Module It cut the vines and weeds holding it in Place and then began to dig slowly through the hill, adding the Harvested Biomass and Wreckage into its Folded Dimension Pocket. After 2.35 Hours by its internal Clock, it breached the Edge of the Hill and floated in the Open Water at the Bottom of the Lake. It Hovered a few meters above the apex of the Plant Mound, slowly rotating in circles while its scanners tried to Penetrate the Water around it.

  A Panel opened on the Side of the Core’s Hull, and an oblong object popped out a few meters before hovering in the Water by the Cores Side. A few moments after it settled in place, a line appeared in the Center as the Top and Bottom Half’s began to rotate counter to each other seconds before ringing blasts of Active Sonar pinged the Water.

  PINGPINGPINGPINGINGINGINGNGNGNGNGGGGGGGG

  The Core tuned out the Active Sonar, pushing its Sensor System to its limit to receive and analyze the Returns from the Buoy. Soon it had a picture of the Entire Lake, if not in particularly great detail, both because the Thick Plant life seemed to Absorb most of the Sonar Energy, but also because it wasn’t designed for Sonar and so couldn’t easily use it effectively. After a minute the Buoy Shut off, the limited battery inside drained itself, leaving the Lake Floor suddenly seeming quiet, at least until the swarms of fighting fish recovered from the auditory shock of the Sonar Buoy.

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  Watching as the Swarms of Fighting Fish Flock through the Red Lights Emitted by the Core it recorded everything into the Black Box Storage for later analysis. It floated there, examining the Interaction between the different Species of Fighting Fish and the Plant life, until it began to float through the lake water to the only solid return it received from the Sonar Buoy. An Hour later, it hovered to a stop above the rest of the Wreckage from the crashed Lander, laying crushed and shattered in pieces along the Lake Floor. The largest piece was a chunk about the size of a Semi-Trailer, with a partially intact weapons Pod, and rows of seating holding the Corpses of the Occupants slowly being devoured by the Local Breed of Fighting Fish.

  The Cores Eyes brightened, the Dull Red now piercing through the Bottom of the Lake as it scanned the largest piece of Wreckage for the Materials it would need to Complete its Repair Sequence. One of the Corpses lit up, or more accurately the Radio backpack it carried lit up, along with the Control Module for the Weapons System Mounted on the Bulkhead a few seats down. Creeping Closer through the Water, the Core Activated the harvesting tools, and quickly cut through the Biomass of the Corpse and into the Radio Pack. Pulling the Valuable Communications Equipment into the Harvesters the Cores damaged neural Circuitry triggered for a Sense of Pleasure… or at least they Tried to. Instead they simply shorted out again, causing the entire Core to jerk as it quickly rebooted from the Short and dropping the Backpack into the Lake Floor.

  After booting up, the Repair Control Circuitry disregarded the fallen Radio Pack and headed for the Weapons Control Console mounted on the Bulkhead. Somehow it had survived intact, the Core was still reading power inside the Circuitry and a few of the inset lights were Lit. This Fact didn’t concern the Core at the Moment, Repairs were a higher Priority than examination, and the Harvesting Tools reached out for the Console. As they touched, another shock swept the Core, likely static Electricity from the Console Reacting, but it didn’t effect the Core enough to stop the Harvesting as it ripped into the Console to pull the resources it required out and into its Self-Sufficiency Module.

  The Core, still floating in the middle of the wreckage field, surrounded by the Dead Invades slowly being devoured by the Fighting Fish, shut down. It slowly settled into the Wreckage Below it, and its lights dimmed until they were nearly out entirely. The Deployed Panels sealed up, until it was just another slightly beetle shaped mass on the ocean floor with the Wreckage from spaceships waging war far above.