The fourth dent waited low enough to make the warning feel personal.
JJ kept herself between the dent and Ty. Blue crouched beside the receiver without crossing the danger line. Rusuf watched the gap, blade angled toward the cables, while the growl below the bridge rolled through the open space in slow pulses.
"Nobody kneels for the bridge while I am standing here," JJ said. "I want that understood before the room gets clever."
"The dent still needs a downward hit from above," Blue said. "If we hit sideways, the handle may jam before the proof strike."
Ty looked at the receiver mouth. The returning capsule sat locked below the rail, its tail ring exposed. The ring had taken the third cable home. It was thick enough to hold a tool if they could reach the dent without a hand near the gap.
"Use the capsule tail as a hinge and keep hands back," Ty said. "Put something through the ring, then strike down from back here."
Blue followed his line of sight and saw the ring.
