The abandoned salt mine that had served as Logan Sterling’s forward command outpost was hidden inside a deep dark rock cave three miles north of the quarry. The underground bunker was carved from solid salt rock, heavy with pre-Cataclysm steel heavy beams, and powered by a stolen Vanguard military earth-heat generator that hummed with steady, clean electricity.
While Ronald and his cadets secured the outer edge with the assistance of their recovered beasts, Arthur, Valerie. Toby conducted a systematic tactical sweep of the work-yard.
What they found inside was a treasure trove of high-tier living assets.
In the bunker’s climate-controlled storage vaults were three heavy-duty refrigeration units packed with empty pocket-sealed crates of Grade-A Prime Aether-Beef fillets, harvested from high-sky ranches and preserved for the private consumption of the mercenary elite. Next to the meat lockers stood five heavy silver-steel lockboxes containing raw metal bars of ancient stygian iron melted rock waste. Salvaged from deep-rift earth-shaking vents, glowing with heavy gravity mana.
“Look at this haul, Arthur!” Toby yelled, his voice echoing off the salt walls as he pried open a heavy wooden crate. “Over five hundred pounds of prime aether-beef! And these stygian metal bars... This is the highest grade of gravity iron I’ve ever seen! In Aethelgard, this melted rock waste would sell for ten thousand credits a metal bar on the open market!”
