Nox did not go to Ironvale with the first convoy. The hospital junction still carried the raw seam from Holt's twelve-second access, and the coalition's shared-liability clause gave the remaining lords a reason to test it the moment he left the city network.
Kendra accepted the command without asking him to justify it. She had a route map, a short list of temporary drivers, and a posted objective. The convoy would reach the public silos, verify the underground granary, then return with route evidence or recoverable stores.
"We are not taking Ironvale today," she told the drivers gathered in the Citadel motor court. "We are finding out what Holt is hiding, then we come back before he can trap us on his roads."
