Development year's standard rotation resumed fourteen days after the São Paulo memorial service. Grief had been processed. Recovery was complete. Tactical debriefing had documented environmental warfare methodology for institutional learning.
Observer had authorized return to biweekly deployment schedule. Twenty-six missions annually. Level 150-200 difficulty range. Twenty-three percent casualty probability that memorial ceremonies had made devastatingly concrete rather than abstractly statistical.
Rama stood in Coalition headquarters briefing room alongside Sekar and Nakamura. Commander Rodriguez presented their next assignment with professional neutrality that suggested the veteran understood what graduated Champions needed right now.
