The signal from General Tarik came without warning. It was not a message, but an action.
On every public news feed in the city, a single, looping video began to play.
It was security footage from the Azure Dragon council chambers, showing Elder Valerius's confession.
The full, unvarnished truth of his treason, his complicity in his own clan's corruption, and his service to the Obsidian Vanguard.
But the video was edited. Every mention of Kiera, of Ryu, of their involvement, was skillfully excised.
In this version of the truth, Valerius had been exposed by the brilliant, internal work of the Sunstone Jaguar intelligence network.
It was a masterstroke of propaganda.
Tarik had not only exposed the Vanguard's infiltration of his greatest rival; he had done so in a way that made him look like the city's savior, the one leader with the strength and integrity to root out the darkness.
The effect was immediate and catastrophic. The Azure Dragon clan, its leadership decapitated and its honor shattered, collapsed into a paroxysm of internal purges and recriminations.
The Onyx Serpents, already weakened by their own infighting, were now completely isolated. The political landscape of the city had been rewritten in a single hour.
Tarik was now the de facto ruler of the Core Sectors. For Vex, it was the final, unforgivable betrayal.
His most powerful political asset had been exposed and neutralized.
His rival clans were in disarray, but a new, far more powerful and unified enemy had emerged under Tarik's banner.
His grand plan for a slow, subtle takeover was in ruins. He was a cornered animal, with nothing left to lose.
And Ryu, his prize, his key, was still out there.
That was when the second message came, this one directly to Kiera's hidden comm-link.
It was from Tarik.
"Vex is moving," the message read.
"He's consolidating his remaining forces, his Praetorian guard, at a single location. The old orbital defense platform in the Outer Sector badlands. He's preparing for a final, apocalyptic confrontation. He knows he's lost the shadow war. Now he will try to win a real one." The message ended with a set of coordinates and a single, chilling command: "He will be expecting my army. He will not be expecting you. This is your target. Eliminate him. This is the final move." This was it.
The endgame. Tarik was using them as his personal assassins, sending them on a suicide mission to eliminate the leader of the Vanguard while his own forces prepared to sweep up the remnants.
It was a betrayal, but it was also the opportunity they had been waiting for.
They would be walking into the lion's den, facing Vex and the last of his perfected super-soldiers.
But they would be doing it on their own terms. As they prepared for their final mission, Kiera looked at her team.
Joric, the cynical medic who had become the heart of their rebellion. The Quartermaster, the amoral spymaster who had taught them how to be monsters.
The dozen freed prisoners, their minds still healing, but their eyes now filled with a fierce, protective loyalty.
And Ryu. The boy who had been a victim, who had become a weapon, and was now something more.
His connection to the ChainForce was no longer a curse. It was a part of him.
The power of a god, tempered by the soul of a dust-rat who had refused to break.
"Vex wants a god," Kiera said, a faint, dangerous smile on her lips.
"Let's go give him one."