Chapter 108: Nobody Had to Follow His Plan
Six days old, and the bruise had finally started to look like it was losing.
Jin ran his fingers over it in the early light while Glitch endured what had apparently become their morning routine.
[Joint Stability: Normal]
[Swelling: None]
[Structural Damage: None]
[Deep Bruising: Present]
[Tenderness: Reduced]
[Protective Tension: Mild]
[Normal movement and controlled exertion comfortable]
[Direct impact, heavy bracing, and repeated loading through this side remain inadvisable]
Better. The edges had yellowed, the middle was still tender, and the bruise itself hadn’t disappeared, but it was healing at exactly the speed a Grey Rock Lizard’s shoulder should. That remained the most valuable and least mentionable fact about him.
Jin measured breakfast and watched the bag give up more than he liked. The four-day award had fallen below two, but he fed Glitch the correct amount anyway. Underfeeding him before the final test wasn’t strategy; it was losing slower.
Glitch ate, then sat up radiating enormous satisfaction. Judging by the pride pouring through the contract, he had decided Meridian had finally recognized Jin’s authority over the lesser students.
"They’re teammates, not subordinates."
Glitch’s satisfaction did not change.
"You understand even less about leadership than I do, and I understand almost nothing."
The final medical check was brief and thorough. A technician ran Glitch’s shoulder through its arc, confirmed the bruise on record, then cleared him for controlled field conditions.
"Full participation," she said. "It’s documented. Movement changes materially, he’s reassessed on the spot." She glanced up. "Lead role or not, you don’t get to spend your own beast to carry the unit. That’s not what the assignment means."
"Wasn’t planning to."
"Nobody plans to. Then the clock’s running and something needs holding."
She said it without accusation, finished whatever she needed to finish on the record, and let him go.
Kade ran the assembly. Lucian stood near the front, Darren waited a few rows over with Rook at his feet, and Marek was somewhere behind Jin, audibly nervous.
"Last day," Kade said. "Four-handler units, modular sector, thirty-five minutes." He laid it out flat. "Find the marked casualty. Get it onto the extraction sled. Recover and activate the emergency relay core. Bring all four handlers, all four beasts, the casualty, and the core through extraction before time runs out — in reasonable condition. A unit that finishes with a wrecked beast has not finished well."
The field held constructs, unstable structures, communication interference, changing information, and an extraction complication Kade declined to specify. Controlled, but demanding.
"Each unit has a Tactical Lead, chosen off prior performance. The Lead sets priorities and coordinates the plan." His eyes moved across the assembled students. "The Lead does not command another handler’s beast. Your beast is yours from the first second to the last. Any of you can challenge a direction you think is unsafe — and you’re being scored on whether you say so honestly, not on whether you nod along."
"Astor is responsible for the plan for Unit Three. That does not make the rest of you equipment." A short pause. "And Astor — a leader who ignores better information isn’t decisive. He’s just wrong faster. Listen to your unit."
They had a few minutes to plan in a corner of the staging yard. Jin dealt with the awkward part first rather than letting someone discover it in the field.
"Before anything else. Glitch’s left shoulder’s bruised. Six days old, cleared to fight, but he can’t be the anchor — no heavy bracing, no repeated impact through that side." He looked at Darren. "You already saw it yesterday. No point pretending."
Darren nodded. "Figured that’s why you kept turning him. Good. Rather know now than find out when he drops something."
Jin started laying it out. "Okay. Lucian, you’re our eyes—Falcon high, recon and hazard calls. Darren, forward route checks and interception, Rook’s fast enough to reach mechanisms before they—"
"Rook can check the left approach if the Falcon flags movement," Darren said, "but if there’s a rotating hazard on the second tier he should hold at the—"
"—and Glitch can cover the center gap while Bristle—"
"Astor." Darren didn’t raise his voice. "Tell me what you need Rook to accomplish. I’ll decide how he gets there. You run four contracts through your own head, we’re going to trip over each other."
Jin stopped. He was planning footwork for a beast he’d never commanded, owned by someone who understood Rook far better than he did.
Kade’s warning had lasted all of five minutes.
"...Yeah," he said. "You’re right."
He cut it down.
"Objectives, not methods. Lucian—recon and warnings. Darren—forward checks and interception. Marek—casualty sled, rear security, bracing. Glitch and I take center, terrain, and the relay." Jin looked around the group. "Stay in visual support. Report what you see. Don’t chase or take optional fights. The casualty and relay matter more than defeating constructs. If the plan turns unsafe, say so before you go solo."
Darren grunted, which from Darren was approval. Lucian nodded, while Marek exhaled like a man who’d been handed a job he could actually do.
"Bristle can brace," Marek offered. "And pull. That’s — he’s good at those. That’s what he’s for."
"That’s exactly what he’s for," Jin said.
The field opened, and the first ninety seconds nearly fell apart.
Everything happened at once. The Falcon warned of an elevated hazard, Rook pulled up at a temporary opening in the ground, Glitch reacted to movement near the center, and Bristle started following the casualty marker.
Jin tried to conduct all four of them.
"Glitch, hold — Darren, that opening, can Rook—Marek, wait, don’t push forward yet—Lucian, is that hazard moving—"
He wasn’t the only one talking. Darren called Rook off the opening, Marek checked Bristle, and Lucian adjusted the Falcon’s line, with every instruction pointing at a different problem.
The formation crushed inward under its own corrections. Rook lost a clean interception angle when Darren pulled him back toward the group, Bristle stopped dead when Marek checked him, and Glitch nearly ran up his back. A construct that should have been intercepted gained ground and shoved the entire unit onto a slower route.
Nobody was hurt. Every order had made sense by itself. Together, they had produced a mess.
Lucian’s voice cut through it, perfectly calm.
"We’re all solving different problems."
Jin stopped trying to move every piece.
"Center keeps moving. That’s the priority. Darren, the threat’s yours. Lucian, watch the route. Marek, stay with me on the sled line."
The unit started working.
The Falcon found the casualty inside a damaged structure two tiers down, the blue marker glowing through a gap in a half-collapsed wall. There were two ways in: a short passage through sagging supports, or a longer loop past a construct patrol.
Jin looked at the short way and put Appraisal on what he could see.
[Support — Uneven Load Distribution]
[Falling Debris: Ongoing]
[Cracked Beam: Recently Shifted]
[Interior Load Beyond Entry: Not Assessable]
[Collapse Timing: Cannot Be Calculated]