A/N: Enjoy the chapter and check out my Original on WN/RR !
Spam some goddamn reviews and throw stones.
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A few hours later, the hole in the wall was still there.
Kaviss had shoved most of the rubble into a neat pile. A few larger chunks sat stacked by the doorway, ready to be dragged out and dumped somewhere.
The real problem was on the workbench.
Void stood over it with his hands planted on the metal lip, eyes locked on the hologram Obsidian was throwing into the air. The ring schematic rotated slowly. A thin band no wider than two fingers, layered with channels so fine they looked like scratches until you zoomed in and realised they were deliberate. Every line meant something.
Marcus hovered at Void's right, restless. He kept bouncing on his heels like he was standing too close to a cliff edge.
Pahanin leaned in from the left, chin in hand, calm but focused. His eyes tracked the schematic like he was reading a language he helped invent.
Kaviss stood behind them, tall and still, four hands busy in his own rhythm. One pair tapped a slate. Another held a tool he had not used yet. The last pair adjusted a small tray of samples, each piece labelled.
Obsidian spun once, then projected a clean list of items that the ring needed.
Void let out a breath through his nose. "Alright. Talk to me. What do we actually need if we're making these properly?"
Pahanin pointed at the hologram with two fingers on the first item, steady. "Base alloy is easy. We can pull that from the same shipments we already do. Same for the conductor mesh. Same for the casing polymer."
Marcus nodded fast. "Most of that stuff is boring. Boring is good. Boring is cheap."
Kaviss clicked once, then tapped his slate to note this info down.
Pahanin flicked his gaze at Void. "We already mix those orders into the Spider runs. He won't notice because he never checks the boring crates. His people just count the glimmer and move on."
Void nodded. That made sense. Spider's whole business ran on not caring, until something gave him a reason.
Marcus leaned closer, eyes narrowing as he scanned the next few items.
Void glanced at Pahanin. "Those?"
Pahanin shrugged. "Harder, not impossible. We salvage. We buy small. We spread it out."
Kaviss made a low clicking sound that sounded like agreement, then pointed at the last line on the list.
'Zeromorphic Filament'
Marcus whistled. Not loud, but enough that it cut through the hum of the bench.
"There it is," he said.
Void raised a brow, but Marcus leaned on the workbench, hands spread. "I guess you don't really know it, do you? Zeromorphic Filament isn't like copper wire. It's not something you just pull out of a pile and call it done. You make it. You grind a specific crystal down into powder. You treat it. You run it through a press. Then you spin it into filament so fine it looks like hair."
"And? I thought we could get machines to do all that for us?" Void couldn't quite grasp his meaning.
Pahanin sighed, "This, specific crystal, he mentioned. Is rare. So rare, in fact, that currently, it's only found in the soil of one moon."
Marcus nodded once. "Phobos. That's where it's from. Only there. Not Mars in general. Phobos."
Kaviss clicked, sharper this time.
Void did not move. "How do we even know that?"
Marcus exhaled. " Golden age resource book. Any machinist or inventor worth a pile of glimmer has studied that log from end to end. Zeromorphic is rare. Rare enough that the City barely meets its own demand. They're always short. They fill gaps with scavenger squads and favours. Sometimes they trade with the Awoken."
Pahanin lifted his cup from earlier, realised it was empty, then set it down with a quiet clink. "So we won't be buying it from the Awoken."
Void didn't even ask. He already knew.
Pahanin continued, tone flat. "If it's that rare, they won't part with it. Not in the quantity we'd need. Not without asking why. Not without wanting something back."
Marcus nodded. "And if you try to buy it through Spider, that's worse. Even if he doesn't notice, somebody else will. A spike like that travels. People start connecting dots. The City. The Reef. Whoever watches trade routes for fun."
Kaviss shifted, one pair of hands folding behind his back, the other pair still tapping the slate. He clicked, slowly, then translated himself in a rough, clipped voice. "Many eyes. Many mouths. Questions."
Void stared at the bottleneck line until Obsidian dimmed it and highlighted the schematic instead, as if gently trying to pull him back.
"So," Void said, voice calm, "our options are."
Pahanin lifted a finger. "We do not ask the Awoken."
Marcus lifted a second. "We do not ask Spider."
Kaviss lifted a third, claws half curled. "We go to Phobos."
The three of them looked at Void like the answer was obvious.
Void stared back like it wasn't.
He ran the numbers in his head without saying them. He pictured a crystal vein in a Cabal zone. He pictured a drill rig. A crew. A few skiffs. A few jumpships. He pictured the first Cabal patrol that saw them and decided it was time to make an example.
"We haven't clashed headfirst with the Cabal yet," Void said.
Marcus nodded slowly, and for once his grin didn't show. "Exactly. And we shouldn't. Not over a business project."
He leaned in, quiet but firm. "It's not just a fight. It's a statement. We show up in their territory and start mining. They'll treat it like a raid. Like an invasion. Like we're testing them."
Marcus looked to Void. "Even for me, that's too crazy. Starting a war with the Cabal when the City's still trying to pretend they don't exist is just… yeah. No."
Void didn't answer immediately.
He knew something they didn't.
Cabal would not stay silent forever. The City would be forced to clash with them eventually. It was only a question of when and whether they would be ready when it happened.
But this was not the moment to say that out loud. .
Void exhaled once. "We park it."
Pahanin frowned. "Void."
"We park it," Void repeated, firmer. "We finish everything we can finish without it. We prep the manufacturing. We set the pipeline. We don't commit to Phobos until we have a plan that doesn't get our workshops bombarded by Cabal gunners."
Marcus nodded slowly, accepting it. "Okay. That's fair."
Kaviss clicked his mandibles again, then made a small motion with two fingers, like a note being filed away.
Obsidian brightened, projecting a new marker.
Void leaned back from the bench, rolling his shoulders. The ring schematic continued to spin, patiently. Like it knew they would come back to it sooner or later.
"Alright," Void said, shifting gears before the mood got stuck in the swamp. "Next problem. We need more brains."
"This isn't just building a ring. This is building the network around it. Security. Flow. Scaling. Fail-safes. We're not doing this with three idiots and one angry Eliksni."
Marcus lifted a brow. "Where."
"Venus," Void said.
Pahanin paused. "The Tuyet team?"
Void nodded once.
Marcus squinted. "Why don't you bring them here?"
Void shook his head. "It's complicated. They can't really travel on a moment's notice. You'll see when we get there. For now, grab your stuff and get ready to move. " Then he glanced back at Kaviss. "You'll be holding the workshop."
Kaviss's eyes widened. The Eliksni flinched in response and sighed right after. As if bored with his duties.
"Relax. If anything, we've got the harder job." Void shook his head.
As Void turned around and walked towards the door, Pahanin grabbed his cloak, and Marcus caught a few trinkets. The three deftly exited through the front door, the workshop lights dimming behind them.
Kaviss saw them leave, and a few minutes later, the distinct sound of thrusters echoed in his ears. He heaved a breath and gently set down the data pad in his hands. Kavis stretched lazily. His eyes were slowly drifting towards the black leather couch at the centre of the workshop.
He took one glance at the piled-up rubble, another at the couch. Kaviss gulped.
The next second, he leapt towards the couch like a starfish and landed square on its pillows.
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A/N: as always check Patre*n for more juicy chaps.
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