Just as a new, fragile equilibrium was settling in the safehouse, Joric burst into the training room, his usual cynicism replaced by a grim urgency.
He was holding a datapad, its screen displaying a news feed from the Core Sectors.
"It's started," he said, his voice low and tight.
"The Vanguard is making its move."
On the screen was the face of a prominent politician, Councilor Tarek of the Sunstone Jaguars clan.
The headline was stark: 'Councilor Tarek Assassinated; Inter-Clan Tensions Soar.'
"The official report is claiming it was an operative from the Onyx Serpents clan," Kiera said, reading over Joric's shoulder.
"The Serpents and the Jaguars have been political rivals for decades. This will push them to the brink of war."
"Exactly what the Vanguard wants," Joric countered.
He swiped the screen, bringing up a different file. It was a leaked, heavily redacted preliminary autopsy report.
"I still have a few friends in the intelligence community. Old debts. Look here."
He pointed to a single line in the report.
'Cause of Death: Catastrophic cellular decay.
Subject's body exhibits signs of near-total energy depletion.'
Kiera's breath caught in her throat.
"ChainForce draining," she whispered. "It's the same signature as my brother's murder."
"Precisely," Joric confirmed.
"They didn't just kill him; they harvested him. And they did it in a way that perfectly frames their biggest rivals. They are not just creating chaos; they are directing it. Pitting two powerful clans against each other will create a massive power vacuum, one that they are perfectly positioned to fill."
Ryu looked at the screen, at the face of the dead councilor, at the reports of looming war.
He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cool air of the safehouse. The whispers he had overheard, the recruitment meetings, the fight in the Rust-maze—they were not isolated incidents.
They were all part of a single, monstrous plan.
A plan that was now escalating from the shadows of the Outer Sector to the gleaming halls of power in the Core.
"Vex is playing a much larger game than we imagined," Kiera said, her voice grim.
"He's not just building an army of dust-rats. He has operatives capable of infiltrating the Core and taking out a high-clan councilor. He's a spymaster, a general."
"And this is just the beginning," Joric added.
"This is designed to test the waters, to see how the other clans react. He's coiling the serpent of chaos around the city, and he's about to squeeze."
The news fundamentally shifted their mission.
This was no longer about Kiera's personal revenge or Ryu's survival.
They were the only ones who knew the truth, the only ones who could see the invisible hand of the Vanguard pulling the strings.
Their small, hidden war had just become the first line of defense against a threat that could tear their entire society apart.
"We can't stay here," Kiera said, her decision absolute.
"Hiding is no longer an option. If the clans go to war, the Vanguard wins. We have to find a way to expose them, to prove they are behind this."
"Expose a ghost?" Joric scoffed.
"How do you propose we do that? We have no proof, no evidence that would stand up to a clan council inquest. We only have the word of a disgraced medic, a weakened warrior, and... him." He gestured to Ryu.
"An anomaly who, by his very existence, breaks every known law of the ChainForce."
Kiera looked at Ryu, a new, desperate plan forming in her mind.
"You're right," she said. "We don't have proof. So we'll have to go and get it."