The Power Plant finished construction sometime before dawn.
Hans returned to Ironford after sunrise.
The completed structure remained inside his construction interface, waiting for a deployment point. Engineers had already cleared the rear section of the freight yard and marked enough space around it for vehicle access and whatever else Hans decided to place nearby later.
He checked the position.
"Deploy."
The System accepted it.
Construction began over the prepared ground.
Hans left the deployment area before the structure finished forming. There was little reason to stand around watching another Power Plant build itself when Matilda and several Engineers were already waiting beside the Armored Command Truck.
A district map covered the hood.
By the time Hans reached them, the Power Plant notification appeared.
------
[ Power Plant deployment complete. ]
[ System Energy Pool updated. ]
[ Energy Capacity: 2,000 => 2,400 units. ]
[ Energy: 1,703 / 2,400 units. ]
------
Hans dismissed it. The remaining 697 Energy Units gave him enough room for the FOB and several other facilities, though the number became less comfortable once he saw how many locations the Engineers had marked across the western and central industrial blocks.
Most of them sat along roads already opened by the cleanup teams, with the farthest positioned south of the former Hive site.
"How many?"
"Six Strategic Facilities confirmed inside the secured sectors," the lead Engineer answered. "Three more locations are still being inspected, but their main structures are too damaged for us to confirm anything yet."
Hans selected the first three markers and received the same designation from each one.
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[ Strategic Facility detected: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ Strategic Facility detected: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ Strategic Facility detected: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
------
He already had two working in the northwestern industrial sector, so three more would more than double their existing output if they survived restoration.
"What’s their current condition?"
The Engineer pointed toward the nearest one.
"First complex is mostly intact. Processing tanks survived and the control building only has exterior damage."
His finger moved toward the freight spur farther inside Ironford.
"Second one lost part of its storage section. Primary processing equipment is still standing. The third received more damage during the operation. Engineers confirmed the control systems and main processing line survived."
"What about Hive tissue?"
"Removed from the accessible sections. Some biological remains are still attached to exterior structures around the second and third sites."
"Underground?"
"The control buildings and immediate foundations are cleared. Service tunnels beyond them remain restricted."
Hans nodded and moved to the fourth marker.
It covered a large storage compound several blocks north of the new FOB. Rows of containers remained across the property, though many had been thrown out of position during the fighting. One warehouse had burned, while two gantry cranes lay across separate loading lanes.
The System still recognized the facility.
------
[ Strategic Facility detected: Industrial Storage Yards. ]
------
Hans recognized the designation immediately. The two already connected to his network were responsible for the forty-percent increase applied to every major conversion since Highcross; another one would raise that bonus to sixty percent.
Recovery trucks were already arriving at the FOB while he looked over the facility. Several rows of containers sat beneath temporary covers near the surviving warehouses, with more waiting at Route One and Site Three while teams deeper inside Ironford continued separating machinery and supplies from anything intended for conversion.
None of the main recovery stock had been converted yet, which meant the timing could hardly have been better.
Matilda followed his attention toward the storage lanes.
"Did you find something useful, Commander?"
"Yes. A very useful one."
Hans selected the fifth marker.
Unlike the refinery complexes, this one covered several connected freight facilities beside the old railway lines. Vehicle depots occupied one side, while loading offices, warehouse-control buildings, weigh stations, and distribution lanes filled the rest.
The System supplied a name he had never seen before.
------
[ Strategic Facility detected: Industrial Logistics Center. ]
------
"That sounds useful."
"You said something similar about the Chemical Processing Plant."
Hans glanced at Matilda.
"That was useful."
"You complained about its Energy consumption for several minutes."
"Because it was also hungry."
Matilda returned to the map without answering.
Hans moved to the final marker.
Several large fabrication halls occupied the compound south of their position. Heavy presses and machining equipment remained visible through damaged sections of the exterior walls, with assembly tracks extending between separate buildings. One structure had partially collapsed along its eastern side, although the main halls remained standing.
------
[ Strategic Facility detected: Heavy Manufacturing Complex. ]
------
Hans checked the facility report next.
"How secure is this one?"
"Surface structures secured," Matilda answered. "The Engineers found two basement entrances inside the southern hall. Both are being checked now."
"Any contacts?"
"None so far."
"Wait until they’re done."
"Understood."
Six Strategic Facilities sat inside sectors they already controlled, three of them additional refinery complexes and another an Industrial Storage Yard. The remaining two were unknown quantities until Engineers captured them, while his remaining 697 Energy Units would have to cover whatever their requirements turned out to be.
"How soon can the teams move?"
"They already prepared escorts," Matilda said. "The three refinery routes are open. Storage Yard route is open from the west. Logistics Center still has one blocked freight lane, but the northern entrance is usable."
"And the manufacturing complex?"
"Capture team holds outside until the basement inspection finishes."
Hans closed the map.
"Start with the five cleared facilities. Send the sixth once the Engineers give it back."
Matilda switched channels and passed the assignments to the waiting teams.
Engineer escorts began leaving the FOB over the next several minutes, separating along the secured roads toward the three refineries, the Storage Yard, and the Logistics Center. The final group remained behind until the basement inspection at the manufacturing complex was finished.
Hans stayed at the freight yard and returned to the recovery manifests while they moved out. Strategic Facility capture itself was already familiar; there was little reason to follow each team through another control building when their reports would reach him once the facilities entered restoration.
The first capture report arrived less than half an hour later.
The nearest refinery had been the easiest of the three to access. Its Engineer team entered through the western control building while the escort squads remained around the processing yard and the nearby road.
------
[ Strategic Facility Capture in Progress: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
------
Hans continued through the recovery manifest while the progress indicator filled.
The completion prompt appeared several minutes later.
------
[ Strategic Facility Captured: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ System restoration protocol initiated. ETA: 3 hours. ]
[ Unlocked Functions ]
[ Industrial Processing ]
The facility enables high-efficiency resource conversion at industrial scale. Energy input is refined, stabilized, and converted into Gold. Output is automatically integrated to System reserves.
[ Output ]
+200 Gold / day
[ Requirements ]
80 Energy Units
------
[ Energy: 1,783 / 2,400 units. ]
------
Hans dismissed both panels.
The second team reported shortly afterward.
Their refinery required a longer route through the damaged storage section, although the control building itself remained accessible from the northern side. Several soldiers stayed outside while the Engineer entered with two Army Soldiers and began the capture.
The same prompt eventually followed.
------
[ Strategic Facility Captured: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ System restoration protocol initiated. ETA: 3 hours. ]
------
[ Energy: 1,863 / 2,400 units. ]
------
The third took longer.
Part of the freight spur beside the complex remained blocked by overturned rail wagons, forcing the escort to leave its Guardian APC farther from the control building and continue on foot. Engineers had already cleared the immediate structure earlier that morning, so the delay came mostly from getting there rather than anything inside.
Hans was halfway through another manifest when the third notification arrived.
------
[ Strategic Facility Captured: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ System restoration protocol initiated. ETA: 3 hours. ]
------
[ Energy: 1,943 / 2,400 units. ]
------
Five refinery complexes now belonged to him.
The original two still produced four hundred Gold every day. Once the three Ironford facilities finished restoration, their combined base output would reach one thousand.
Hans checked the restoration timers. The first would finish ahead of the others by less than half an hour, with the remaining two following close behind.
"Refinery teams remain on-site until restoration finishes," Hans said.
Matilda relayed the instruction.
The fourth team reached the Industrial Storage Yard before the third refinery finished capturing.
Its condition made the approach slower.
Several container stacks had collapsed into the vehicle lanes, and one of the fallen gantry cranes blocked the direct route toward the administrative building. The escort stopped outside while the Engineer team entered through a service access on the western side.
A short radio report followed.
"Storage Yard team. Control room secured. Beginning capture."
"Proceed," Matilda answered.
Hans opened the facility marker while the team worked.
The existing two Storage Yards remained listed elsewhere in his Strategic Facility network, each providing the same twenty-percent conversion increase. He had been using the combined forty-percent bonus for so long that most of his later conversion calculations already assumed it was there.
Another twenty percent was going to matter more immediately than the new refinery income.
Ironford’s recovery stock had spread beyond the freight yard by then.
The temporary storage area beside Hans contained only the material recovered from the nearest sectors. Route One had taken several earlier loads, Site Three held more, and other collection points remained farther inside Ironford where the recovery teams were still working through factories, offices, freight depots, processing buildings, and storage facilities.
Most of the usable machinery remained physical.
The same applied to fuel, intact electrical equipment, industrial tools, replacement parts, construction material, and anything the Engineers believed they could reuse. The conversion stock was what remained after that separation, and there was already enough of it that nobody had a final estimate yet.
The Storage Yard capture finished while another recovery truck entered the western gate.
------
[ Strategic Facility Captured: Industrial Storage Yards. ]
[ System restoration protocol initiated. ETA: 4 hours. ]
[ Unlocked Functions ]
[ Resource Buffering ]
The facility stabilizes large-scale resource flow and prevents conversion loss.
[ Effects ]
+20% Gold conversion ratio
+5% Ore Refinery output
[ Energy Consumption ]
60 Energy Units
------
[ Energy: 2,003 / 2,400 units. ]
------
Hans checked the four-hour timer, then the recovery loads continuing into the yard.
The new bonus would not matter until restoration finished anyway, and there was still plenty left to count before then.
"Keep everything marked for conversion in storage," he said. "Nothing gets processed until that facility is operational."
The Engineer handling the recovery records nodded.
"All collection points?"
"All of them."
"Understood, Commander."
The instruction went out through the logistics channel.
Trucks already carrying conversion material continued toward their assigned storage points, while the recovery teams deeper inside Ironford kept sorting instead of sending anything through the System.
Hans returned to the district map.
Four facilities were captured and restoring.
The Industrial Logistics Center remained with its Engineer team, and the basement inspection beneath the Heavy Manufacturing Complex was still underway.
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