Morning cracked open with the sound of engines.
For the first time since the siege, Haven's air didn't smell of ash or blood. It smelled of oil, resin, and the sharp metallic edge of invention. Smoke rose from the forge stacks in disciplined grey ribbons, not panic plumes, and the yard rang with purposeful noise—tools, shouted numbers, the steady cough of machinery being persuaded to behave.
Maria stood at the center of it all like a conductor before an orchestra that only half respected her authority.
"Alright!" she shouted over the clang and hiss. "If it explodes, you get half rations. If it doesn't explode, you get extra bread. Clear?"
A ragged cheer answered her.
Ten recruits stood nearby in newly issued armor, the plates catching the morning light in deep bronze-green hues. Bugskin. Not metal—grown. Chitin harvested from the Father's corpse, purified, layered, and bound with resin filaments that flexed subtly as their wearers breathed. The armor didn't clatter when they moved. It murmured.
Sofia tugged at her collar and leaned toward Kira. "Feels wrong wearing something that used to want us dead."
Kira rolled one wrist, her new dagger flashing—a narrow blade etched with faint gold veins that caught essence like wire caught current. "Feels better than being dead. You saw what the Father's shell did to steel."
Sofia exhaled. "Fair."
The ground vibrated as something heavy rolled forward.
The yard parted instinctively as Beetle 01 emerged from the bay.
Six wheels. Armored flanks of polished chitin. Reinforced cab braced with resin-welded steel ribs. The front plow curved like a mandible, scored from earlier tests. Crooked white letters had been painted along the side:
BEETLE 01
Maria pretended not to see them.
The vehicle rumbled to a stop in front of Ethan, engine settling into a low, stubborn growl.
"You built that in under a month," Ethan said, unable to keep the admiration out of his voice.
"Three weeks," Maria corrected. "The rest was arguing with Ravi about cup holders."
Ravi popped his head out of the hatch, goggles askew. "Still a necessary feature!"
Maria pointed a wrench at him without looking. "Touch anything and I remove your hands for parts."
Marcus crossed his arms. "I'll walk."
"Of course you will," Maria said sweetly. "When something tries to eat your boots, don't ask for a ride."
The laughter that followed wasn't forced. It sounded easy. Familiar. Human.
By midmorning, Ethan gathered the strike team at the outer gate.
The plan was simple: test everything outside the walls. Armor, weapons, coordination. No heroics. No risks taken for pride.
Darren rested the Reaver's Arc across his shoulders, scars pale against sweat. Kira flexed her fingers, knives appearing and disappearing like thoughts. Sofia checked the string on her new Snapbow—the compact limbs folded inward with a soft hiss as compressed essence settled.
Keith watched from the wall, hawk and eagle already circling high.
"Rules are simple," Ethan said. "We move together. Maria's testing the Beetle from the ridge. No wandering. No improvising unless it saves lives."
Kira saluted lazily. "Pre-approved."
Ethan shook his head once. "Gate."
The doors opened.
Outside Haven, summer had reclaimed the scars. Wind moved through blackened trees. Insects buzzed over fused soil where resin once boiled like tar. Their boots crunched softly on glass-slick ground that had cooled into strange patterns.
Sofia and two recruits raised their Snapbows.
The weapons whispered as they fired.
Alloy-tipped essence bolts struck a cluster of feral drones half-buried in mud. The impact wasn't loud—just final. Shells split. Bodies folded.
A soft System chime flickered at the edge of Ethan's vision.
Coordinated Strike Registered
Contribution XP Distributed
Formation Bonus Applied (+5%)
Sofia blinked. "That wasn't individual."
"No," Ethan said, eyes faintly green. "That was teamwork."
Kira smirked. "Took it long enough."
They moved as one unit. Darren held center, Arc carving clean defensive arcs. Kira harried the flanks. Ethan's Thread Lash snapped out when needed—never wasted. Sofia's shots landed where the formation created openings.
The System tracked structure, not slaughter.
Formation Integrity: Stable
Combat Efficiency: Improving
Haven Unit Rating: Tier II (Provisional)
Maria's voice crackled in Ethan's ear. "Testing engine load—how's my Beetle doing?"
"No explosions," Ethan said.
"Excellent. Low bar."
The ridge answered with thunder.
Beetle 01 roared past in a spray of dust and broken resin pods, turret swiveling as its plow smashed through a nest. Two small mutants went tumbling. Ravi whooped from the hatch.
"Impact tolerance holding!"
Something inside the engine clanged ominously.
Smoke puffed once from the vents.
Maria's voice returned, perfectly calm. "Alright. Seventy-five percent successful."
Kira groaned. "That thing is going to kill us."
Maria replied, "Eventually. Just not today."
They returned by dusk.
Beetle 01 limped home under its own power, armor dented but intact. No casualties. No panic.
Maria stood beside the cooling engine, hands on her hips, soot streaked across her cheek. Ethan joined her, watching the faint green shimmer under the chitin plating.
"You did it," he said.
"Not yet." She tapped the panel where resin veins pulsed softly. "That glow? It's not burning off excess energy. It's buffering it. The Father's bio-resin is stabilizing the coils."
Ethan frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," Maria said slowly, "we didn't invent fuel. We discovered a regulator. If we can replicate this mix… engines stop eating themselves."
The System chimed, restrained but unmistakable.
Discovery Registered: Bio-Resin Stabilization
Engineering Insight Gained
Local Efficiency Modifier: +3%
Experience Distributed (Engineering Team)
Ravi whooped anyway. "That's bread!"
"After we keep it from catching fire," Maria said.
Sofia slumped against a wheel, exhausted and smiling. "Still worth it."
Ethan looked around at Haven—people laughing, arguing, alive. The walls glowed with sunset. For once, the fortress didn't look like a last stand.
It looked like a beginning.
"We're getting there," he said.
Maria wiped her hands on a rag, eyes still on the green shimmer beneath the armor. "Yeah. One bolt at a time."