The thick blast door hissed open with a screech of twisted metal.
Steam rolled out, clouding the entry, and heat pulsed in waves from the scorched chamber beyond.
Blazren was the first through, his eyes narrowing behind his visor.
"What in the hell…"
The heroes behind him stepped in cautiously, weapons raised, scanning corners.
The moment they were fully inside, the scene hit them all at once.
Rows of cages, lining the walls.
Each held a woman, bruised, restrained, or barely conscious.
Heat coils embedded in the floor flickered erratically, some shattered.
And at the far end of the room—
Meyra lay slumped against a pillar, her chains shattered and her suit torn.
Smoke curled from the broken vent behind her. She was breathing—but barely.
One of the scouts gasped. "What the hell happened here?"
Blazren crouched beside one of the cages.
Inside, a girl—maybe sixteen—stared up at him through cracked glass, her lips too dry to speak.
"Open them," he barked.
