The last ambulance waited short of the bridge approach while the receiving assembly cleared a place for it. Its driver had one hand raised for the traffic lead. Inside, a medic checked a connection and bent close to hear the patient. Nothing about the vehicle’s position allowed it to hurry simply because the defenders were tired.
Mira stood at the command point with the latest pressure report. The threshold had brought them into active reassessment. It had not erased the bay-clear condition. The equipment bay still held a final cart and two clinical workers completing the transfer record. They had promised to acknowledge their withdrawal through the tested route.
Bram was halfway to that route when a support beside the ambulance approach moved.
It was not the same failure Dema had repaired. A fixing on an adjacent anchor installation slipped against damaged material. The unit’s contribution changed with it. The physical backup caught part of the movement, but a heavy element slewed toward the lane the ambulance needed to enter.
The bridge observer called the stop. The driver braked before reaching the obstruction. Behind him, a creature struck the outer shield line and forced a defender back onto one knee.
