[OPENING SCENE — NIGHT, VANGUARD HQ, INFIRMARY WING]
Veya sits alone in the medbay, her arms bandaged, bruises dark along her jaw. The events of the previous ninja attack still play in her mind. Rain taps gently on the reinforced glass dome above. Outside, Skyvault City glows with peace that feels fake.
Veya (internal monologue):
"The petals are scattered. The stem cracked. But even flowers bloom again... don't they?"
A knock interrupts her thoughts. It's Kael, holding a datapad.
Kael: "You've got recon duty in two hours. Still up for it?"
Veya: (smirks) "Try stopping me."
[SCENE — ROOFTOPS OF SKYVAULT CITY, LATER THAT NIGHT]
Veya glides over rooftops with her plasma staff. She watches shadows, trailing a suspected smuggler of Dark Nodes. Suddenly, the sky splits with a crimson flare.
Veya: "...What is that?"
A massive ripple of fire erupts in the air. From it steps a figure — tall, crowned in ember horns, his armored cloak trailing smoke: Pyrrhos, the Ember Lord.
Pyrrhos: "You were alone. Predictable."
Veya (raises weapon): "You must be a slow learner if you think I'm scared."
She charges, lightning-fast. Their duel is brutal — Veya's strikes dance with light, but Pyrrhos absorbs every blow like flame devours air. A backhand from him cracks her into a chimney. She gasps for breath.
Pyrrhos (coldly): "Your fire flickers. Let me show you true heat."
With one touch, flame surrounds her, wrapping into chains. Her scream is muffled as she vanishes into a blaze.
[SCENE — HQ, WAR ROOM]
Alarms blare. Aurix slams his fists into the table. Suki, Echo-7, Kael, and Irion stand over the console.
Aurix: "She's been taken. No signal. No trace. Pyrrhos struck within our city."
Irion (calculating): "We'll find her. But not if we panic."
Suki (angry): "Then let's move already! We can't let him—"
Echo-7: "Movement detected. South quadrant. Multiple heat spikes."
Aurix: "All units, mobilize!"
[SCENE — ABANDONED INDUSTRIAL SECTOR, SKYVAULT CITY]
Smoke rises from the rubble. The Vanguards enter a crumbling steel facility. Metal groans above. Shadows shift. Then—
BOOM!
Flames explode outward as Pyrrhos lands before them, cape blazing.
Pyrrhos: "Came for your friend? Good. I hoped for a crowd."
The ground ruptures — lava cracks open, and Pyrrhos summons obsidian golems wreathed in fire.
Kael: "Incoming! Form up!"
[EXTENDED COMBAT SEQUENCE]
Irion charges, manipulating energy blades mid-air. He slices through one golem, but a burst of flame knocks him into a wall.
Suki calls forth her petals, weaving shields and lashes of cutting light, fending off attackers with elegance and rage.
Echo-7's drones fire precision blasts, providing cover for Tari and Jax.
Kael's predictive systems are overwhelmed — Pyrrhos is too unpredictable.
Pyrrhos (to Suki): "Your fear burns brighter than your petals."
Suki (gritted teeth): "Then you'll see how I burn when I protect what's mine!"
She lunges — Pyrrhos blocks, then sends her flying with a wave of heat. Her body tumbles across debris. Smoke clouds the battlefield.
[SCENE — PYRRHOS'S DUNGEON, UNKNOWN LOCATION]
Veya wakes up suspended in glowing chains, her body burned and exhausted. The cell pulses with molten veins in the stone. Across from her, other captives groan — injured Vanguards from the raid.
Veya (whispers): "...No. Not again."
Footsteps echo. Pyrrhos appears outside the cell.
Pyrrhos: "You were a spark. I'll forge you into something better... or watch you fade."
Veya: "You won't break me."
Pyrrhos: "No. But I'll break everything around you until you ask me to."
[SCENE — BACK TO HQ, NIGHT]
The remaining Vanguards retreat, wounded and reeling. Smoke and scorch marks paint their uniforms. Suki clutches a bloodied shoulder. Irion limps. Aurix surveys the team grimly.
Aurix (low): "We lost."
Kael: "We underestimated him. He planned every second."
Echo-7: "He didn't want to kill us. He wanted prisoners."
Suki (voice shaking): "He wanted Veya... and we let him."
Silence falls over the room. Rain pours once more outside.
Irion (finally): "Then we plan. We learn. We strike back. He won this round... but war doesn't end in one battle."
[ENDING SCENE — PYRRHOS'S CHAMBER]
Pyrrhos kneels before a massive furnace altar. In the flames, a voice speaks — ancient, deep, cracked like firewood.
Flame Voice: "The Servant moves. Vellor awakens. Servix watches."
Pyrrhos (bowing): "Let the Vanguard suffer. Let them burn."
[TO BE CONTINUED...]