Date: TC1853.06.23 (Morning)
Location: Seven Peaks - Perimeter + Command Center
Commander Thorne completed his fifth perimeter circuit of the morning with military precision honed over sixteen years of Imperial Guard service.
Dawn patrol. Standard protocol since Luminous Haven's population had swelled to two thousand civilians plus five hundred eight disciples. More people meant more vulnerabilities. More entry points for infiltration. More targets for assassination attempts like the one that had nearly killed Jin Zhao two days ago.
His boots crushed morning frost along the defensive wall's exterior walkway. Formation lamps still glowed from the night shift, providing illumination as sunrise painted the eastern peaks gold and crimson. The living walls breathed beneath his feet—organic architecture that had grown more sophisticated over the past month, developing something approaching genuine intelligence.
