The ant colony's departure began at first light with the kind of methodical precision that only centuries of evolutionary optimization could produce.
Kai watched from elevated observation as ScarMandible's forces performed their withdrawal protocol. This wasn't panic. This wasn't retreat. This was the organized transition of a force that had completed its objective and was moving to new priorities. Workers moved in lines. Wounded soldiers on platforms. The dead collected with visible respect.
Guardian stood beside him. "She's taking fifty-six wounded—about twelve percent."
"And the dead?"
"Thirty-seven," Guardian said. "All going home."
"She operates at strategic levels I'm only beginning to comprehend," Kai murmured.
Archive noted, "No rear guard. She trusts we won't hit during vulnerability."
"It's calculated," Kai said. "We're too damaged and too grateful—and too logical to remove the only force likely to help kill the next thing that climbs out of the deep."
