The journey to Tortuga-Prime, also known as Scrap-City, was a descent into organized chaos. Unlike the Iron Graveyard's natural, swirling debris, Tortuga-Prime was a sprawling, man-made monstrosity. It was a city built on, around, and within an enormous cluster of salvaged ships, broken clockwork towers, and entire districts repurposed from fallen Dreadnoughts. Gangways of rusting metal crisscrossed the sky, connecting platforms where thousands of 'Scrappers'—pirates, merchants, and exiles—lived in a perpetual twilight beneath the looming, perpetually overcast sky.
The Silver-Wing looked like a broken toy among the colossal, patched-up behemoths that dominated the docks. Its torn sails and splintered stabilizer were a testament to its recent, harrowing escape.
"Don't look them in the eye, Kaelen," Lyra murmured, her hand on her brass staff, her blindfold scanning the crowds that watched them dock. "Every single person here knows what we are. And they know what a 'Living Core' is worth."
Nova, surprisingly, seemed unaffected by the throngs of suspicious, scarred faces. She simply observed, her mercury eyes reflecting the harsh light of the city. She clung to Kaelen's side, a small, fragile anchor in the storm of the new environment.
"We need a shipwright capable of Null-Iron repairs," Kaelen stated, ignoring the glares. "And we need it yesterday."
"There's only one master who can work Null-Iron without turning it into Miasma-dust," Lyra said, her voice grim. "His name is 'Forge-Heart' Jax. He runs a smithy in the Lower Spires District – the part of the city built into the hull of an ancient Consensus battleship. But... he doesn't work cheap. And he doesn't like outsiders."
"Then we'll just have to be persuasive outsiders," Kaelen replied, a dangerous glint in his indigo eyes.
As they disembarked, the air hummed with hushed whispers. "A Living Core... The Crow of the Void..." The rumors spread like wildfire, painting a target on their backs.
They navigated through the winding, vertiginous alleyways. Scrappers bartered for broken Aether-Cores, Sky-Pirates sharpened their cutlasses, and the omnipresent smell of oil, stale alcohol, and burnt metal hung heavy in the air. Lyra led them unerringly, her unique Sona-sense mapping the labyrinthine city's vibrations.
They found Jax's smithy in a massive, cavernous chamber carved from the belly of a derelict Dreadnought. The air thrummed with the clang of hammers and the roar of a forge burning with an impossibly bright blue flame. Steam hissed from enormous vents, painting the space in shifting shadows.
'Forge-Heart' Jax was an imposing figure. He was a mountain of a man, his skin the color of polished mahogany, his bald head gleaming with sweat. His right arm was a marvel of steampunk engineering—a massive bionic limb made of gleaming brass and pistons, ending in a hand capable of crushing raw Null-Iron. He wore a grease-stained chef's hat perched precariously on his head, and a heavy, short-handled hammer was slung over his shoulder.
Jax turned from his forge, his single, good eye narrowing. His left eye was a patch of scarred tissue, a testament to some ancient, violent encounter. He looked them up and down, his gaze lingering on Nova, then on Kaelen's glowing arm.
"Well, well, well," Jax rumbled, his voice like grinding gears. "Look what the Miasma dragged in. Kaelen 'Little Crow' Vane. And you brought a Consensus Engine with you."
"Jax," Kaelen said, trying to keep his voice even. "I need Null-Iron repairs. A full hull plating. And I need it done before the Harbingers track us here."
Jax threw his head back and laughed—a booming, mirthless sound that shook the very foundations of the smithy. "Null-Iron? For you? You think I forget what you did, Crow? The raid on the 'Sky-Serpent' three years ago? You stole my shipment of Aether-Coils and left me to fight the Harbingers alone!"
"It was a mission, Jax," Kaelen said, his hand straying to his hilt. "Orders from the High Spires."
"Orders be damned!" Jax roared, slamming his massive bionic fist onto an anvil. The sound reverberated through the chamber, rattling the very bones of the Silver-Wing which sat in a nearby drydock. "Those 'orders' cost me my eye, Kaelen! And my son's freedom! They took him to a Consensus work-colony! So no, 'Little Crow.' I won't lift a finger to help you."
A heavy silence descended. The forge fire seemed to dim.
Kaelen knew Jax's reputation for stubbornness. He knew pleading was useless. He had to appeal to something deeper.
"Jax," Kaelen said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl. "You think I want to be here? My own Core is eating me alive. I'm dying. And the only way to stop the Engine from failing—the whole world from falling into the Miasma—is to follow this girl. The same Engine that the Consensus is using to enslave people like your son."
Jax hesitated, his good eye flickering to Nova. The girl stood still, her mercury eyes unblinking, radiating a silent, undeniable truth.
"The Consensus is coming for her, Jax," Kaelen continued, pressing his advantage. "They'll glass this entire city to get her back. And if you think you've got a problem now, wait until they start taking your sky-children for their Core-experiments."
Jax's bionic arm clenched, the brass pistons groaning. He looked at Kaelen, then at Nova, then back at the forge where the blue flames licked at a raw slab of Null-Iron.
"My price will be steep, Crow," Jax finally said, his voice still like grinding gears, but with a hint of something else—a flicker of the old camaraderie. "Not in coin. But in blood. You get my son back from that work-colony, and I'll armor your ship in the hide of a sky-dragon. And I'll cook you the finest meal you've ever tasted, even if it's your last."
Kaelen nodded, a grim smile touching his lips. "Deal. Get started on the hull, Jax. And don't worry about your son. The Consensus won't know what hit them."
Jax let out a deep sigh, a cloud of steam escaping his lips. "Always the suicide missions, eh, Crow? Alright. But first... tell me about this 'Burn' of yours. Sounds like you've got a problem with friction, inside and out. Maybe there's a trick or two even I can show you."