Dorath's team met at the zone eleven entry station before first light.
The other two members were a woman called Ress—Life Path, Silver-Rank, with the particular stillness of a support specialist who had learned to read a fight without being in the middle of one—and a man whose name Kai did not catch because he did not offer it, only a short nod, Steel Path badge visible, the kind of economy that meant he had been in enough groups to know introductions were secondary to function. Both were clearly comfortable with Dorath. The kind of comfortable that came from having covered ground together.
Dorath looked at Kai once when he arrived, took in the coat, the vault pair, the D-Rank badge, and the something-else that experienced hunters always seemed to read without naming.
"Observation terms still apply," he said. "You move with us. You do not engage unless I say or unless the situation requires it." He paused. "You will know when the situation requires it."
Kai nodded.
