Chapter 91: We Entered with Four
Chapter 91: We Entered with Four
Jin felt himself slipping into the same habit again. He was already trying to perfect the route, adjusting one detail after another while waiting for certainty to appear.
He cut the thought off.
Instead of chasing a flawless plan, he chose one that was simply workable. It had three points where they could retreat or change direction if things went badly. That was enough. He committed.
A plan he could afford to be wrong about.
Jin was growing annoyed by how often that seemed to be the lesson.
The course opened, and Lucian’s team moved as if none of it were difficult.
The Falcon climbed in a tight spiral, flattened into its scouting line, and crossed the ground ahead in one smooth sequence. It accelerated, banked, dropped lower, then held position without wasting a single wingbeat. Lucian stood beside Jin with barely any visible movement.
Years of training sat behind that kind of coordination. Jin could admit it was impressive, even if those were years he had never been given.
Glitch watched the display and immediately decided he needed to equal it.
The first obstacle was barely an obstacle at all, only a light hanging panel meant to be pushed gently aside.
Glitch charged it like the panel had personally offended his family.
The thing slammed away. Glitch’s momentum carried him down beside the sealed supply case, and he landed hard enough to shake it.
[Case Stability: -8%]
The penalty appeared on the board for everyone to see.
Glitch went rigid. Mortification poured through the bond, though he would have preferred death to admitting that was what it was.
Jin kept his voice level.
"Down. Small."
From that point on, he abandoned loose commands such as push, jump, or shove. Glitch needed exact limits, so Jin gave him exact limits.
"Move it gently. Don’t send it flying. You’re using about twice as much force as you think. Cut everything in half."
Glitch steadied himself before approaching the next obstruction. This time he eased around it with a care that nearly qualified as delicate.
The case reading didn’t change.
It was ugly progress, but progress still counted.
Their first serious obstacle came at a partially collapsed passage. The remaining opening sat above ground level, and neither beast could solve the problem efficiently on its own.
The Falcon could reach the upper section, but it lacked the strength to move the heavy supports safely. Glitch could shift the blockage below, but if he pushed without knowing what held the structure up, he might drop the entire passage on them.
Or on the case.
Jin studied every stress point he could see.
[Structural Load: Concentrated—Lower Left Support]
[Hidden Load Behind Obstruction: Unknown]
That helped.
It didn’t help enough.
Appraisal could show him strain in the visible structure. Anything hidden behind the obstruction remained exactly that: hidden.
The familiar urge arrived immediately. Keep examining it. Don’t act until every uncertainty is gone.
Jin refused to follow it.
They didn’t need to trust the whole structure yet. They could make one small move and reverse it if the support reacted badly.
"I want to test the lower-left support under load before we fully commit," he said. "We back out and switch to the right if it starts shifting the wrong way."
Lucian didn’t ask Jin to prove the conclusion. He followed the reasoning.
"Falcon takes the guide cable above and removes some tension from the span. Glitch braces below while you increase the load."
Jin turned to Glitch.
"Slowly. One inch at a time. Harden your claws for traction, nothing else. The moment you hear a groan, stop."
The Falcon seized the loose cable and pulled upward, wings working steadily to keep it taut. Below, Glitch hardened his claws and planted himself against the support.
Because he was Glitch, he still used a little more strength than instructed.
The support jerked.
A groan travelled through the passage.
Above them, the Falcon reacted at once and pulled harder, catching the weight as it shifted. Lucian answered just as fast with one short command that changed the bird’s angle.
Glitch’s raw strength held the lower section while the Falcon’s precision controlled the upper span.
The structure stopped moving.
Then it settled.
A moment later, it was stable.
They passed through safely. The first distress marker waited on the other side, and Glitch picked it up.
[Distress Marker 1/2—Recovered]
"His control hasn’t caught up with his strength," Lucian said.
There was no judgement in it. Anyone who had seen the first panel already knew the problem.
"He’s been 3-Star for less than two days," Jin replied. "Give him a week."
Lucian looked at the little lizard, who was still swelling with pride over recovering the marker.
"Then he’s doing well."
Satisfaction flooded the bond at once.
"He said well," Jin reminded Glitch. "He didn’t say perfect."
The satisfaction disappeared just as quickly.
Lucian’s attention shifted from Glitch to Jin. The beast had reacted to ordinary words, and Jin had responded to something nobody else could hear. A thoughtful look passed over Lucian’s face.
He had noticed how easily Jin and Glitch understood each other.
Their partnership was new enough to make that unusual, although an ordinary contract could still explain it. Jin had no intention of giving Lucian more to study.
Whatever conclusions Lucian reached, he didn’t voice them.
They continued.
The distress marker had barely finished registering when a sharp tone rang across the course.
The field itself stayed the same.
Lucian’s assessment band turned red.
[Paired Coordination: Casualty Condition Activated]
[Simulated Casualty: Handler Lucian Vale]
[Condition: Unconscious]
[Restrictions: No speech, gestures, commands, route guidance, or independent movement after assuming casualty position.]
[Previous Objective Updated: Second Distress Marker Suspended.]
[Team Objective: Reach extraction with the casualty, supply case, and both registered beasts.]
[Withdrawal remains available.]
Lucian had started raising one hand toward the Falcon. He stopped midway, lowered himself carefully to the ground, and became completely motionless.
No talking.
No hand signals.
No helpful answer slipped in when the evaluator wasn’t looking.
From now on, Lucian was another thing they had to carry.
So this was why the evaluator had mentioned withdrawal.
The Thunder Falcon understood at once that something was wrong. It abandoned the high scouting line, descended beside Lucian, and spread its wings while turning outward to defend him.
Its handler had fallen silent without warning. No command had prepared it. No explanation followed.
The Falcon never looked at Jin. It kept watch on everything else, waiting for instructions that would never arrive.
Jin couldn’t replace them.
Another handler’s beast wouldn’t accept thoughts through his contract. He was bonded to one creature on the field, and that creature wasn’t the Falcon.
Glitch immediately flared with offended possessiveness at the idea of Jin ordering another beast around.
His handler.
His commands.
Jin felt every bit of it. He also felt what sat underneath.
Glitch hated the idea, but even he understood that two members of their group couldn’t be left behind.
"Handler Astor," the evaluator called in an even voice. "You may permit Vale to withdraw and complete the exercise with your own beast. Your individual score will stand. Your team score will not."
There was the easy option.
Let Lucian withdraw. Leave with Glitch. Reach extraction and keep the individual score while Lucian and the Falcon exited the assessment.
The numbers were simple.
They were also safe.
The old Jin would have remained there calculating. Individual score against team score. Remaining time against additional risk. One possible outcome after another, examined until the chance to act spoiled in front of him.
He looked at Lucian, silent and removed from participation.
Then at the Falcon, tense and guarded, willing to accept orders from no one.
The supply case still needed to reach extraction.
Beside it stood Glitch, bruised, possessive, and already preparing himself for whatever Jin chose.
This time, Jin didn’t wait.
"We’re not withdrawing."
At the sound of his voice, the Falcon snapped its head around.
It didn’t trust him.
The bird stayed over Lucian, keeping one wary eye on the lizard handler who had begun speaking as though the Falcon owed him obedience.
Jin looked from one beast to the other.
Glitch belonged to him and carried enough pride for both of them.
The Falcon didn’t belong to him at all, and it had no reason to cooperate.
"We entered with four," Jin said. "We’re finishing with four."