The city breathed a different kind of silence now.
Gone was the screeching chaos of Eclipse patrols or the undead's maddened snarls. Havenreach had grown quiet—not safe, but watchful. Like the eye of a storm waiting to close.
Jaden knew this calm wouldn't last.
Faultline had grown to four. Their missions were becoming bolder. Every success painted a bigger target on their backs. They couldn't keep sleeping in tunnels and ruins.
They needed a home. A stronghold. A base that could stand.
So they hunted for one.
Jaden led the team through Sector Ten—a sunken part of Havenreach where old pre-Fall infrastructure had buckled under shifting ground. Most avoided the region. The unstable earth, flooded basements, and lingering gas leaks made it near-impossible to navigate.
Which was exactly why it was perfect.
"Who the hell built this city over a sinkhole?" Marcus grumbled as they descended into the wreckage of a tilted parking garage.
Raya pointed her flashlight down a cracked stairwell. "Whoever did, they left a lot of holes no one looks into anymore."
Tess followed silently, her senses still off-kilter. Since killing that variant, she'd become more alert—almost too alert. She could feel heat signatures from meters away, hear subtle shifts in wind direction underground. It unnerved her.
But it also saved them more than once.
By dusk, they reached it.
An old military shelter embedded beneath a collapsed armory.
Jaden found it first—half-hidden behind steel rubble and half-covered in moss and debris. The scanner pinged a faint EM signature.
He pried open a rusted security panel and activated Phase Trigger, slipping through the circuitry just long enough to short the locks.
The blast door groaned open.
Inside was darkness—dry, sealed darkness.
The air was stale but breathable. Crates lined the walls, some still sealed with faded Eclipse markings. Bunkrooms. An operations center. Backup power grid. Reinforced doors.
A relic from before everything fell apart.
Marcus whistled. "Now this is what I call a fortress."
Raya nodded. "Walls thick enough to survive a war. And hidden well enough that Eclipse probably forgot it even existed."
Tess ran a hand along the concrete. "We'll need to reinforce the entryways, maybe install pulse dampeners. If we can hide our signals, they'll never know we're here."
Jaden stood in the center of the central command room. The console sputtered to life, casting faint blue light across his face.
System Notification:
Location Secured: Faultline StrongholdBase Level: 1Capacity: 6Defense Rating: 32%Hidden Potential Detected…Additional Upgrades Possible via Lock System
New Feature Unlocked: Base Management
Assign Roles
Manage Resources
Upgrade Facilities
Secure Perimeter
"Welcome home," Jaden said quietly.
That night, the team set up what they could.
Tess mapped escape routes. Marcus checked structural integrity and power systems. Raya scouted the perimeter.
Jaden stood at the console, watching as lights slowly came online. He felt it—the first real foundation.
But something in the Lock System caught his eye.
Passive Effect Detected:Tess — Power Stabilizing… IncompleteUnknown Signature Resonating with Stronghold Core
His brows furrowed. Tess… and this place?
Somehow, this shelter resonated with her awakening ability. Not fully—but enough to be noticed.
Whatever her power was, it was beginning to take root.
As midnight passed and the base quieted, Jaden finally exhaled. He stared at a wall where they'd pinned a map of Havenreach—new markings, plans, names.
"Faultline has a home," Tess said behind him.
Jaden nodded. "It's not much yet."
"It's a start," she said. "And that's more than most have."
He looked at her then, really looked—at the energy building in her eyes, the weight of their losses behind her calm.
Especially Lena.
He hadn't forgotten.
This wasn't just about survival anymore.
It was about building something no one could take from them.
System Notification:New Base Quest Acquired: "Root the Faultline"
Upgrade Base to Level 2Recruit 2 More MembersRepel First Eclipse AssaultReward: Lock Point + Unique Lock (Basebound)
Jaden smiled to himself.
Let Eclipse come.
For the first time, they had something to defend.
And they would make anyone who tried to take it bleed.