The alliance with General Tarik was a shaky, dangerous thing, but it gave them something they hadn't had before: resources.
Tarik, true to his word, provided them with a new, far more secure safehouse and a line of untraceable credit.
But his first 'request' was a test: a reconnaissance mission to a geothermal power plant in the industrial wastes, a place the Vanguard's ledger referred to as 'The Forge.'
"It's their primary workshop and armory for this sector," Joric explained, pulling up blueprints of the plant.
"They're using the plant's massive energy output and heat to forge their own weapons, enhance their soldiers, and manufacture their technology. It's hidden in plain sight."
The facility was heavily guarded.
A direct assault was impossible. This was a mission of stealth and infiltration.
Kiera, despite her diminished power, was still a master of covert operations. Ryu, his ChainForce sense now a precise tool, was the perfect scout.
And Joric, with his technical expertise, could bypass the plant's outdated security systems.
Their infiltration point was a massive, forgotten water intake pipe that led deep into the bowels of the plant.
As they moved through the dark, damp tunnel, Ryu took the lead, his senses extended.
He could feel the thrum of the plant's geothermal turbines, a deep, constant vibration.
But he could also feel the disciplined, cold energy signatures of the Vanguard patrols moving through the corridors above.
They were like sharks circling in the deep.
Guided by Ryu's senses and Joric's knowledge of the blueprints, they bypassed patrols and security cameras, moving like ghosts through the labyrinthine maintenance corridors.
The heat intensified as they drew closer to the core of the facility. Finally, they reached a grated overlook, high above the main chamber.
What they saw below took their breath away.
It was a vision of hell. A vast cavern, lit by the molten glow of forges and the crackle of plasma welders.
Hundreds of workers, some in Vanguard uniforms, others in the rags of the Outer Sector, toiled over assembly lines.
They were building weapons, armor, and strange, spidery cybernetic enhancements.
In one corner, a group of new recruits—more dust-rats seduced by Vex's promises—were being fitted with the same black, filament-laced augmentations that Silas had worn.
But the most horrifying sight was at the center of the chamber.
A massive, throne-like device, crackling with contained energy. Strapped to it was a man, his body convulsing as raw, corrupted ChainForce was pumped directly into his system.
It was a forced-enhancement process, a brutal and agonizing procedure to create super-soldiers like Silas.
Ryu felt a wave of nausea as he recognized the man's face.
It was Jax. His former roommate.
The failed technician who had been taken from their residential block.
Jax was no longer the trembling, hopeful man Ryu had known.
His eyes were wide with a mixture of agony and a terrifying, empty madness. The Vanguard had not cured him; they had hollowed him out and were filling the empty space with their own corrupted power.
He was being reforged.
Kiera placed a hand on Ryu's shoulder, her own face a mask of cold fury.
This was the source. This was where the Vanguard built its monsters.
She activated a small, high-resolution camera and began documenting everything: the production lines, the forced-enhancement throne, the faces of the Vanguard officers overseeing the operation.
This was the proof General Tarik needed.
Suddenly, an alarm blared. A piercing, electronic shriek.
They had been discovered. A sensor had picked up their heat signature or a stray energy reading.
Vanguard soldiers began pouring into the chamber, their weapons raised towards the overlook.
"We're blown!" Joric hissed.
"We have to go, now!" They had their proof, but now they were trapped deep behind enemy lines, with an entire army between them and their escape.