Panic erupted on the overlook. Vanguard soldiers were rappelling up the walls, their plasma rifles spitting bolts of energy that sizzled past their heads.
Kiera shoved Ryu and Joric towards a maintenance shaft.
"Get the proof to Tarik!" she commanded, her blade already drawn.
"I'll hold them off!"
"We're not leaving you!" Ryu yelled back, preparing to use his own power.
"Don't be an idiot!" Kiera snapped.
"You're no good in a firefight, and your power is our last resort. Go! That's an order!"
Before they could argue, a new figure appeared in the center of the forge below.
He was tall, dressed in a long, elegant coat, and moved with a calm, theatrical authority. He raised a hand, and the soldiers ceased their fire.
Even from a distance, Ryu recognized the charismatic, terrifying smile.
It was Vex.
"Hold your fire!" Vex's voice, amplified by the chamber's acoustics, was smooth as silk and cold as ice.
"Don't damage the merchandise." He looked up at the overlook, his eyes seeming to pierce the darkness and lock directly onto Ryu.
"And welcome, little anomaly. I've been so looking forward to meeting you."
Vex was not alone.
Beside him stood a figure that made Kiera's blood run cold.
It was her rival, Valerius, the son of the traitorous Elder. But he was different.
His eyes glowed with a faint, malevolent light, and the tell-tale black filaments of Vanguard enhancement were woven across the back of his hands.
He had been turned.
The Vanguard hadn't just infiltrated her clan's leadership; they had corrupted its next generation of warriors.
"Valerius?" Kiera whispered, her voice a mixture of shock and disgust.
"He saw the future, Kiera," Vex said, his voice dripping with condescension.
"He saw that true power lies not in clinging to dusty traditions, but in embracing the inevitable. Something your clan seems to have forgotten." Vex gestured around the forge.
"This... this is the future. An army of the willing, forged in fire and loyalty. And you, my dear anomaly," he looked back at Ryu, "you are the key to perfecting the process."
He began to walk towards the base of the overlook, his calm demeanor more menacing than any weapon.
"Your power is unique. A raw, pure manifestation of the ChainForce. We've only been able to create crude, unstable copies with which to enhance men like Silas and Valerius. But with you... with you as the source, as the template... we can create a nation of gods. And I," he smiled, "will be their architect."
Kiera knew they couldn't fight their way out.
Vex had them trapped. But as Vex monologued, Joric was working frantically.
He had plugged his datapad into a nearby conduit.
"He's a talker, isn't he?" the old medic muttered.
"Good. Gives me time." He wasn't trying to hack their systems.
He was doing something far more direct.
He was overloading the geothermal plant's primary energy regulator.
"Kiera," Joric whispered, "when I give the signal, you have thirty seconds to get us out of here. The whole plant is going to go critical."
Vex was still talking, explaining his grand vision of a new world order.
"Join me, Ryu," he offered.
"Don't you see? We are offering you what you've always wanted. Power. Purpose. A world where you are not a victim."
"Now!" Joric yelled, slamming his fist on his datapad.
A deep, shuddering groan echoed from the bowels of the plant. Red emergency lights began to flash, and a klaxon alarm, far louder than the security alert, began to blare.
The ground shook as the geothermal turbines began to spin out of control. The Forge was about to become a volcano.