Timeline: TC1853.11.16 (Dawn)
Location: Seven Peaks — Training Grounds / Various
The recording crystal activated at dawn.
Taron had chosen the Martial Hall's main arena — the largest enclosed training space in Seven Peaks, capable of holding four hundred people in tiered seating around the central combat floor. He'd filled it with every combat-capable disciple he could pull from morning rotations. Three hundred and twelve of them sat in the stone seats, many still rubbing sleep from their eyes, wondering why the Commander had called an emergency assembly before the first meal.
They stopped wondering when the projection bloomed above the arena floor.
Raven watched from the observation platform on the upper tier. She'd considered not coming. Taron had the crystal, had the authority, had the tactical mind to frame what they were about to see. He didn't need her here.
