The war spread across the preserved region.
Routes opened and disappeared.
Defensive lines shifted.
Some sectors were abandoned deliberately when holding them became too expensive.
Others became critical because evacuation corridors or supply paths passed through them.
Lootwell continued feeding information into the regional command network, but the decisions beneath that level belonged to the commanders already on the ground.
Lucien could see the difference.
During the Team Trials, many had required time to interpret changing objectives.
Now that delay had shortened.
A commander near the southern breach abandoned a ruined fortress before the Black Mass could surround it and established a second line closer to the medical district.
Another ordered a stronger faction to stop pursuing an enemy force and reinforce a group of independents holding a supply route.
There was resistance.
The order was still followed.
