Rez had barely caught a few hours of rest when a resistance scout rushed into the hideout, breathless.

“Someone left a message for you,” the scout said, handing him a crumpled piece of parchment.

Rez took it, unfolding the worn paper. Scrawled in smudged ink were the words:

Meet me at the old foundry. Midnight. Come alone.

There was no signature, but Rez recognized the handwriting immediately—the mechanic from The Iron Tempest.

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The foundry was a forgotten relic of Cloud Pass’s industrial days, a skeleton of rusted beams and soot-streaked walls. The air smelled of metal and old oil. Rez stepped inside, his boots echoing softly on the cracked stone floor.

A shadow moved near one of the broken furnaces. The mechanic stepped into the dim light of a dying lantern. He was a wiry man with grease-stained hands and tired eyes, his face lined with worry.

“You actually came,” the mechanic muttered.

Rez crossed his arms. “You reached out to me.”

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The mechanic exhaled sharply, glancing around as if expecting someone to be listening. “The pirates—Captain Foundry—he’s forcing me to finish the Etherium cannon.” His fingers twitched. “If I don’t, they’ll kill my daughter.”

Rez’s expression hardened. “Where is she?”

The mechanic swallowed. “They’re keeping her in the lower districts, in one of their supply depots. Guarded, but not impenetrable.” His voice wavered. “I don’t have a choice, you understand? If I sabotage the cannon, they’ll know it was me. They’ll go after her.”

Rez took a slow breath. “Then let’s make sure they don’t get the chance.”

The mechanic’s gaze snapped up, searching Rez’s face. “You’re saying—”

“I’m saying I’ll get her out,” Rez said firmly. “But I need your help. You know that cannon better than anyone. I need to know how to destroy it for good.”

The mechanic hesitated, then nodded. “It’s built with a core of refined Etherium—volatile, but heavily shielded. If you can bypass the dampening field, a precise strike could overload the energy regulators.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The problem is, it’s linked to the ship’s main systems. If the cannon goes critical, the ship will too.”

Rez smirked. “Good. Then we kill two birds with one stone.”

The mechanic let out a dry chuckle. “You’re insane.”

Rez shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”

The mechanic took a deep breath, then handed Rez a rough sketch of the cannon’s inner workings. “You’ll have one shot at this. I’ll do what I can from the inside, but you need to get my daughter out first.”

Rez folded the sketch carefully. “I will. You have my word.”

The mechanic met his eyes, searching for doubt. Finding none, he nodded. “Then I guess we’re in this together.”

Rez extended his hand. The mechanic hesitated, then clasped it.

The deal was made.