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The western strategy room is full by seven thirty. Sky Wing students. Mostly Riders. Some combat-support students like me. Mara stands near the front. Rhyven beside her. No Vyrael. No dramatic backdrop. Just a table covered in operational charts. That somehow makes this worse. Rhyven doesn't waste time. "This is not an announcement of deployment." Half the room exhales. He waits. "Don't get comfortable." And there it goes. "The Council wants every Wing capable of operating without senior command." He points toward the board. "Mara remains acting command if I am unavailable." No surprise there. "Secondary command rotates by function." He writes: DRAGON OPERATIONS, WARD RESPONSE, GROUND EXTRACTION, FIRST-YEAR RESPONSE, MEDICAL SUPPORT, COMMUNICATION. Different people. Not one replacement Chief. A system. Of course.
Rhyven looks around. "If I disappear, get injured or leave the Academy, you do not waste time trying to recreate me." Cassian would have a comment. Thankfully Cassian isn't Sky Wing.
"Chain of command?" Mara asks.
"Task-based." Rhyven points. "If dragon operations fail, whoever knows dragons best leads that section."
"Not whoever has the highest year?"
"No." Interesting.
A third-year Rider frowns. "That could put a second-year over a fourth."
"Yes."
"That won't go well."
Rhyven looks at him. "Then learn humility quickly." Silence. I almost smile. He continues. "Years matter. Experience matters. Rank matters. None matter more than competence when something is already burning." That one sits. Then names begin.
Dragon Operations: Mara. Secondary: third-year Rider. Ward Response: two fae-support students.
Year Response— Rhyven looks down at the page.
"Eirea Vaelith." Silence. My head lifts. No. I look around. Maybe another Eirea. Unlikely. Rhyven looks directly at me. Definitely me.
"I'm a first-year."
His expression doesn't change. "Observant." A few students laugh.
I glare. "Rhyven."
"You scored ninety-four."
"On an assessment."
"Yes."
"One assessment."
"And three months of training."
I fold my arms. "You have older students."
"Correct."
"Then use them."
"No." Mara hides a smile. Traitor.
I step closer. "Why."
Rhyven's eyes hold mine. "Because when command disappeared yesterday, you organized people."
"Poorly."
"Initially."
"I lost three."
