Chapter 7 – Smoke and Sparks
983 AN
Aug 25
Zaun – Ashryn's Base, Main Floor
Ashryn leaned back on a stack of supply crates, tapping a pencil against her lips. "We need more boom," she muttered, staring at a schematic of the docks.
Cael raised an eyebrow from where he sat cross-legged across the table. "We already took the docks."
"Exactly. That was the easy part," she replied with a grin. "Now we need insurance. Something spicy. Shiny. Ideally, explosive."
Lynne crossed her arms, standing beside a crate labeled "Scrap: Hazardous". "You're saying we prep the gang?"
Ashryn nodded, spinning her pencil like a baton. "Everyone else is armed to the teeth. We've been punching our way through with fists and pipe wrenches. But if the next domino wants to put up a real fight, I want my people packing heat... and looking good while doing it."
Cael sighed. "You're really going to make me say it?"
"Please do."
"We can ask Viktor."
Ashryn lit up. "See? You can be fun."
Lynne's brows knit. "Is he even ready for something like that?"
Ashryn stretched and cracked her knuckles. "Let's just say I gave him a few sparks a while back… and he's been welding ever since. Now, I want to see what he's cooked up. Surprise time."
Cael blinked. "Wait—you've been planning this?"
Ashryn grinned. "I've been planting seeds. Viktor's just the kind of guy who makes trees grow in poison."
—
Zaun – Viktor's Workshop, Beneath the Converter Site
Viktor's lab was a symphony of organized chaos. Tables bristled with disassembled pistons, glowing tubes, oscillating canisters, and coils of energy-conductive wire that pulsed faintly with stored power. Crude ventilation fans groaned as they kept the chemical haze from choking the air entirely.
He stood over a long metal bench, black gloves stained with oil, goggles over his eyes. A mechanical limb extended from his back like a third arm, soldering a pulse battery to a reinforced gauntlet.
"Ashryn," he said without looking. "Right on time."
She stepped forward with a half-smirk. "Told you I'd come running the moment you made something shiny."
Cael glanced around. "I thought this was just going to be a shop. This looks like a madman's basement."
Viktor adjusted his goggles. "That's accurate."
Ashryn turned to her team. "Alright. You're about to witness the first fruits of our little side project. I gave Viktor the bones. He built the beast."
Lynne gave her a sharp look. "And this never came up because?"
Ashryn winked. "You like surprises."
Viktor gestured to the nearest bench. "First, the Vapor Gauntlets. Based on compressed distillate pressure and reinforced inner bracing. Enhanced striking force. Adjustable dose settings."
Ashryn stepped forward and tapped the tubing. "These pressure tubes… are those inspired by a reciprocating air hammer?"
Viktor glanced at her, amused. "Close. Repurposed from a rusted pneumatic pile driver. Your notes on kinetic redirection helped."
Cael looked between them. "You two speak the same insane language."
"Engineering," Ashryn corrected him. "Fluent since I was ten."
Viktor continued, "Second, the Pulse Rounds. They fire a compressive shock wave through charged tubing. Less about penetration, more about disruption."
Ashryn picked one up and turned it over. "And this coil? That's a Tesla transformer compacted with magnetite? You did it."
Viktor allowed himself a small nod. "Your blueprint helped fill the gaps."
Lynne whispered to Cael, "They're geeking out."
"I'm scared," Cael muttered.
Viktor moved on. "Third, Cling Mines. Adhesive base, custom primer. Either motion or timer trigger."
Ashryn grinned. "Sticky doom. I like it."
"Lastly—Exo-Bracers. Limb-mounted exosuit frames. Jump boosters, recoil dampening, weight displacement."
Ashryn's eyes lit up. "You finished them?"
"I improvised," Viktor said. "They're based on your early sketches of a powered harness."
Lynne blinked. "Wait, you designed exosuits too?"
Ashryn shrugged. "I got bored once. Thought about building a glider too, but wings are overrated."
Cael just shook his head. "She really is a walking blueprint."
—
Zaun – South Courtyard, Clocktower's Outskirts
The courtyard buzzed with excitement. Ashryn's gang gathered in loose formations, eyeing the crates like kids on candy day. Veteran bruisers stood beside scrawny teens who looked ready to explode with adrenaline.
Cael leaned toward Ashryn. "They don't know what's coming, do they?"
Ash grinned. "Not a clue."
Lynne cleared her throat and pointed. "We'll start with a small demo first."
Ashryn raised her voice, stepping onto a low crate. "Alright! I know you all love your fists. Trust me, so do I. But it's time we upgrade our punchlines."
Crates popped open. Vapor Gauntlets. Pulse Rounds. Mines. Bracers.
Ashryn gave a dramatic bow. "Courtesy of our favorite cave gremlin, Viktor."
Viktor, watching from a scaffold above, gave a single wave.
The gang quickly got to work, strapping on gear with barely-contained glee. A few of the older members eyed the exo-bracers suspiciously, until one kid sprinted twenty meters and leapt straight over a supply cart.
Ash grinned. "Oh, we're gonna wreck so many walls."
A loud BANG followed by laughter erupted as a Pulse Round knocked over a rusted tower. One of the mines exploded in a burst of blue static, sending someone sprawling. Viktor muttered, "Field testing proceeding... chaotically."
Lynne moved through the chaos, jotting notes. "We'll need safety protocols."
Ashryn watched her people, glowing with pride. "We'll write those after they stop blowing each other up."
Cael stepped up beside her. "I'll admit, you surprised me. You gave him all this?"
Ashryn nodded. "I didn't have all the answers, but I had the right questions. He built the answers."
"Why him?"
"Because he's like me," she said softly. "Broken parts, brilliant ideas. We build because no one gave us a blueprint for living."
Cael didn't reply.
Ashryn turned back to the scene. Her people laughed, trained, and got stronger.
"Tell them to prep," she said. "Next week, we move on Renni."
Cael blinked. "That soon?"
Ashryn's grin sharpened. "The toys are ready. Let's show Zaun we've got teeth."
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