The last night rehearsal ended beneath shuttered lamps, leaving less than two hours before Hans sounded the counter-offensive's first bell.
Hajin returned to the registry while militia squads changed boots, collected ration packets, and checked their assigned retreat colors.
Lana had divided the witness desk into sealed bundles for casualties, prisoners, enemy movements, artifact custody, and surrender statements.
Ash slept behind her chair beneath the registry coat, guarded by six people assigned to remain after every field column departed.
Hajin examined three identical baseline pages before asking about their destination.
"You copied the current ledger out three times," he said. "One copy stays here, but where do the others go?"
Lana tied the final bundle and kept one hand on the page showing the casualty total.
"The copies go to the clinic cellar and western shelter," she said. "A burned desk cannot erase who entered this battle alive."
