[OPENING SCENE – ABANDONED WAREHOUSE, SECTOR 8 – NIGHT]
Black smoke rolls from shattered skylights. Inside a charred warehouse — tagged with old war-era symbols and gang glyphs — dozens of rogue civilians kneel. They are masked, hollow-eyed, and trembling.
A ring of fire made of Rift-touched ash flickers around them. At its center stands a war-scarred figure: tall, cloaked in burnt leathers and plated in molten armor. A sledgehammer with a glowing core rests in his grip.
Drayven.
Drayven:
"The city forgot us. The elites above — in glass towers and floating halls — left us to choke on soot."
A low growl builds as ash swirls unnaturally around his boots.
Drayven (cont'd):
"But we will rise in the smoke. We will shape it. We will carve the city in flame. With the Rift... we make a pact."
He slams his hammer into the center of the ring. A thunderclap. The fire turns black — and then white. The air twists. The initiates scream as power floods them.
[INT. VAN HQ – OBSERVATION DECK]
Echo-7 flickers rapidly, eyes wide. The Vanguard members stand watching live Rift monitors — spikes detected across multiple sectors.
Echo-7:
"That wasn't just a spike — it was a sacrificial ignition. The Cinder Strain just converted twenty-three civilians into Rift-forged enforcers."
Tari (shocked):
"He's building an army."
Kael:
"Then we burn it before it spreads."
Yuna (quietly):
"Something's different. It's not just power… it's devotion. They believe in him."
[SCENE – ASH FORTRESS – CINDER STRAIN HIDEOUT]
A hidden zone below Sector 8 — abandoned after a firestorm war — has become their base. Structures of fused slag, scaffolding, and ashstone rise like a primitive temple. In the center: Drayven watches his new enforcers spar.
Spitwire (laughing, shooting molten threads):
"They're already learning to bleed flame!"
Husk (grunting):
"They're soft. Unripe."
A new recruit collapses mid-burst. Drayven kneels beside him, hand glowing.
Drayven (softly):
"Pain is payment. Get back up."
The recruit rises, tears mixing with soot. The rest cheer.
[INT. LOWER SKYVAULT – VAN FIELD SCOUTS MOVING IN]
Jax, Echo-7, and Irion lead a recon mission. They find symbols scrawled across rooftops in fire-resistant chalk. A burned banner reads: "THE CITY IS ASH. WE ARE THE STAIN."
Jax:
"Creepy fan art. 10/10 would not hang this in my room."
Irion:
"It's a declaration. They want war, and they want us to know."
Echo-7 (analyzing the soot):
"This residue... it's Rift-reactive. If we hit it with energy, it ignites into smoke bursts. This is trap graffiti."
Irion:
"We pull back. This whole zone's wired."
[SCENE – YUNA'S VISION SEQUENCE]
While meditating, Yuna accidentally taps into the ash-signal left behind in Sector 8. A vision overtakes her — twisted memories of people joining the Cinder Strain. One mother sees her child burn away. A former medic crushes her own tools. All willingly.
Yuna (to herself):
"They're not brainwashed. They were broken long ago. This is their... salvation."
[SCENE – VAN HQ STRATEGY MEETING]
Kael slams a map on the table. Sector 8 is nearly gone. The ash pulses like a living organism.
Kael:
"We hit them before they expand to Sector 9. One controlled detonation. Target the forge."
Tari:
"That's surrounded by civilians-turned-enforcers."
Irion:
"Then we don't detonate. We infiltrate."
[CLOSING SCENE – ASH ALTAR]
Drayven walks alone through the smoky corridor of the forge. He stands before a Rift-infused core — molten and whispering. He opens a locket around his neck. Inside: a photo of a burned child and a crumbled home.
Drayven:
"This is not revenge. This is remembrance. When the sky is covered in smoke... only then will they understand what they've lost."
His eyes glow with purpose. The forge pulses. His hammer burns white.
TO BE CONTINUED…