The supply station stood silent under the twilight sky, a forgotten remnant of the Obsidian Vanguard. Built into the cliffs, it had been untouched for centuries, its reinforced steel doors sealed shut like a tomb. Unlike Solmara, there were no signs of battle, no corpses, no scorch marks—just the weight of time pressing against the metal walls.
Elias placed a hand on the control panel, his gauntlet syncing with the ancient mechanisms. The Vanguard Core within him pulsed, and with a low mechanical groan, the locks released. Dust spilled from the seams as the entrance slid open, revealing a cavernous hall lined with rows of intact storage units, weapon caches, and workstations still humming with dormant energy.
Cecilia let out a low whistle as she stepped inside. "Well, would you look at that? A functional supply base with all its goodies still intact. It's like walking into a treasure vault."
Reinhardt cracked his knuckles. "That means we just got rich."
Lira smirked. "Let's not get too excited until we actually see what's inside these crates."
Marco had already moved to one of the consoles, his fingers flying over the old interface, decrypting the facility's inventory logs. The screen flickered before stabilizing, lines of text rolling down in golden script. "Holy—okay, this place is stocked. We're talking high-grade weapon mods, armor plating, adaptive shielding, energy cores—this is enough to fully upgrade our gear."
Ivy leaned against the console, raising an eyebrow. "So… what you're saying is, we loot the place?"
"We responsibly acquire forgotten assets from a lost civilization," Marco corrected, adjusting his glasses.
Reinhardt snorted. "Yeah, we're looting the place."
Elias grinned, rolling up his sleeves. "Then let's get to work."
The group spread out, each member searching through the stockpiles for anything useful. Within minutes, crates were cracked open, revealing sleek weapon components, armored plating designed for combat suits, and even prototypes of old Vanguard technology. Some of it was completely foreign, designs that had never been mass-produced before the fall of the Vanguard.
Lira lifted a pair of curved daggers, their edges glowing faintly with a kinetic charge. She gave them a test spin, grinning as they hummed in her hands. "I think I just found my new favorites."
Ivy inspected a set of enchanted arrows, testing the weight in her palm. "These arrows are self-reinforcing. They sharpen themselves after every shot."
Cecilia held up a small throwing knife, examining its strange, shifting design. "Huh. It's weightless. Wait—" She flicked it toward the nearest wall, and before it made impact, it vanished. A second later, it reappeared in her hand.
Her eyes widened. "Oh. I like this."
Reinhardt, meanwhile, had found a massive reinforced gauntlet, built with shock-absorbing plating and kinetic amplification nodes. He slid it onto his arm, clenched his fist, and then punched a steel crate just to test it. The crate folded like paper, the impact shaking the entire room.
He grinned. "Oh, hell yes."
Elias, however, was more interested in what he had just found tucked away in the deepest part of the facility—a workshop filled with advanced exo-armor components. His visor scanned the pieces, analyzing their potential integration with his suit.
Marco joined him, pushing up his glasses. "You're thinking of upgrading again, aren't you?"
Elias smirked. "Would you expect anything less?"
The workshop was a goldmine. Full-body exosuit plating, high-density servos, enhanced thruster systems—everything he needed to take his armor to the next level. The Vanguard Core pulsed within his suit, as if eager to integrate the new components.
Marco crossed his arms. "Alright, genius. How crazy is this upgrade going to be?"
Elias tapped a console, bringing up a 3D projection of his current armor. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he overlaid the new components—adaptive plating, reinforced kinetic regulators, enhanced flight stabilizers. The final result was something sleeker, more powerful, and more versatile than anything he had ever built.
Marco let out a low whistle. "You're turning yourself into a walking war machine."
Elias grinned. "That's the idea."
The others eventually gathered in the workshop, each bringing their own set of upgrades to integrate into their weapons and armor. For the first time in days, there were no enemies, no immediate threats—just the sound of assembling gear, sharpening blades, and fine-tuning enhancements.
At one point, Lira sat cross-legged on a crate, watching Elias tweak his gauntlet. "You know, it's kind of funny."
Elias didn't look up. "What is?"
Lira smirked. "You. You were just some random engineer from another world, and now you're building god-tier war armor in the middle of a forgotten military base."
Cecilia snorted. "Yeah, it's kind of terrifying. One of these days, Elias is just going to wake up as a full-on mecha and act like it's normal."
Elias smirked, tightening a bolt. "Not a bad idea."
Reinhardt chuckled. "See, that's the kind of thing that makes people nervous, man."
Marco shook his head. "No, what makes people nervous is the fact that he actually could do it."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "As long as he doesn't replace himself with a machine, we'll be fine."
Elias paused for a second, then grinned. "No promises."
Lira groaned. "I hate that I can't tell if you're joking."
The group laughed, the tension finally easing after days of constant battles. For the first time, they weren't running, they weren't fighting, they weren't planning their next desperate move. They were just people, gearing up, talking, and preparing for the war ahead on their own terms.
Kierian, who had been silently upgrading his sword's grip, finally spoke. "This is good," he said quietly. "The calm before the storm. We should remember this."
Elias nodded. Because he knew it wouldn't last.
Once they left this base, the Academy would be waiting. The Primordial Lords were watching. The world had heard their message, and the war was coming whether they were ready or not.
But for now, just for tonight, they let themselves breathe.
And tomorrow?
Tomorrow, they would change the world.