Nox left the Citadel through the old library tunnel because the main road had become a target list. The core blade rode inside his coat, and the mana in his scarred channels felt thin enough to snap whenever the suppression field pulsed.
Kendra's team moved north through a service lane at the same time. Their field truck carried no Citadel banner, only a white board marked with the military anchor's load figures and the names of the neighborhoods that would lose barrier cover if the depot shut down badly.
"You could have sent that team with a false badge," Diana said through the secure receiver. Her broadcast group was still inside a shuttered printing shop, waiting for Jax before entering the city feed tower.
"Then the soldiers could say we came to sabotage the wards," Nox replied. "They get the real numbers before they decide whether Rook's armor is worth protecting."
