The recruitment process turned Eclipse headquarters into controlled chaos within twenty-four hours.

Sam had set up processing stations in the main courtyard, long tables with tablets and scanners where potential recruits filled out applications and underwent preliminary assessments. The line stretched from the entrance all the way to the street, three hundred people waiting patiently in the morning sun while Eclipse members tried to figure out how to handle numbers they'd never anticipated.

Noah stood on the second-floor balcony watching the organized mess unfold below. Sophie was coordinating despite the healers insisting she needed rest for her recently mended arm. Diana had taken over combat assessments, running groups through basic drills to gauge capability. Kelvin was processing technical evaluations for anyone claiming specialized skills.

"We don't have housing for this many people," Sam said, appearing beside Noah with his tablet showing numbers highlighted in red. "Current capacity is maybe sixty beds total if we pack people into shared quarters. Even if we only accept half these applicants, we're looking at a hundred fifty new bodies with nowhere to sleep."

"Can we expand?" Noah asked.

"Expansion takes time and money. We'd need to construct new wings, install infrastructure, get permits from local authorities." Sam scrolled through more data. "Best case scenario, we're talking three months before additional housing is ready."

"We don't have three months." Noah watched Diana demonstrate a chi-enhanced strike to a group of wide-eyed applicants. "Start approvals for construction today. In the meantime, reach out to nearby housing complexes. See if we can rent temporary space for people who don't need to be on-site twenty-four seven."

Sam made notes, already pulling up local real estate contacts. "This is going to get expensive."

"Grey family backing covers it. Use whatever we need."

The processing continued throughout the day. Each applicant underwent background checks that Sam had somehow expedited through contacts Noah didn't ask about. Ability assessments tested raw power and control. Interviews probed motivation, checking for red flags that might indicate ulterior motives.

By evening, they'd processed maybe a hundred people. Fifty were approved pending final review. Twenty were immediate rejections for various reasons ranging from falsified credentials to concerning psychological profiles. The rest were still in queue, waiting their turn.

Noah found Diana in the training hall around sunset, running the fifth group through combat drills. Sweat soaked through her tactical gear despite the temperature-controlled environment. She called corrections without pausing, adjusting stances, demonstrating proper form when words weren't sufficient.

"You've been at this for eight hours," Noah observed from the doorway.

"Someone has to make sure they won't die immediately in actual combat." Diana blocked a recruit's punch, redirected the momentum, swept his legs, and caught him before he hit the ground. "Again. Your balance is terrible."

The recruit scrambled back to his feet, determination overriding embarrassment. Diana reset her stance, waiting patiently for him to try again.

Noah recognized that look. The same one she'd worn during their vanguard days when she'd spent hours training techniques until muscle memory overrode conscious thought. Learning by repetition, refusing to accept anything less than proper execution.

"Take a break," Noah said. "We have ten days until the Vanguard challenge. You're going to burn out before it even happens."

Diana paused mid-demonstration. "The Vanguard challenge. Right. That's still happening."

"You forgot about it."

"Everyone forgot about it." Diana gestured at the training hall full of new recruits learning basic combat principles. "We're processing three hundred applications while supposedly preparing for a formal duel that could determine Eclipse's political standing. Except nobody's actually training for the duel because we're too busy teaching people how to throw punches without breaking their own thumbs."

She wasn't wrong. The challenge had been this looming event, significant and potentially dangerous. Now it felt like background noise compared to the immediate logistics crisis.

"I'll handle Vanguard," Noah said. "You focus on making sure these people survive their first real contract."

Diana studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Your funeral. Try not to embarrass us too badly when you fight whoever they're sending."

The days blurred together after that.

More applications processed, more interviews conducted, more combat assessments run until Diana started delegating to senior recruits who demonstrated teaching aptitude. The approved count climbed steadily, fifty becoming seventy becoming ninety.

Housing remained the critical bottleneck. Sam secured rental space in three nearby complexes, enough beds for maybe sixty people who didn't require on-site presence. The rest would have to make do with converted common areas, storage rooms cleared and repurposed, anywhere flat enough for a sleeping bag.

Noah walked through the residential wing on the third night and found chaos that somehow functioned. Valencia's friend—her name was Rita, Noah had finally learned—was coordinating room assignments like someone who'd found her calling in organizational management. She'd created a color-coded system Noah didn't fully understand but that seemed to prevent people from killing each other over bed space.

"We've got twelve people sleeping in the auxiliary equipment storage," Rita reported when she noticed Noah. "Another fifteen in what used to be the secondary briefing room. Sam approved converting the old vehicle bay into temporary barracks, but that won't be ready until next week."

"You're doing good work," Noah said.

Rita's expression shifted to something complicated. "Valencia would've loved this. All these new people, the energy, building something bigger. She was always talking about Eclipse's potential, about what we could become if we just had the numbers to match our capability."

Noah didn't have adequate words for that, so he just nodded. Valencia's absence still sat heavy over the faction, present in every conversation she should have been part of.

The sixth day brought a different kind of problem. Noah was reviewing applications in the conference room when raised voices from the courtyard drew his attention. He looked out the window and saw two groups of recruits facing off, maybe a dozen people total, tension radiating between them.

He was down the stairs and across the courtyard before anyone could throw the first punch.

"What's going on?" Noah positioned himself between the groups.

"These assholes are claiming we're taking their training slots," one of the new recruits said. He was maybe twenty-five, built like someone who'd done manual labor before joining Eclipse. "We've got scheduled time in the combat hall, and they're saying original members get priority."

"Original members DO get priority," Marcus said from the other group. He'd been with Eclipse since the beginning, had survived the northern facility assault, had earned his position. "We were here first. We've got actual contracts to train for. You're still learning which end of a weapon to hold."

"We paid processing fees same as everyone. That means we get equal access."

"You get access when we're not using the facilities."

Noah held up a hand before this escalated further. "Marcus, new recruits need training time just like you do. Rita, work with Sam to create a shared schedule that gives everyone adequate access. Stagger the timing so people aren't competing for the same slots."

"The combat hall can't accommodate everyone at once," Marcus protested.

"Then we run more sessions. Early morning, late evening, whatever it takes." Noah looked at both groups. "We're all Eclipse. Start acting like it."

He walked away before anyone could argue further, heading back to the conference room where Sophie was coordinating training schedules.

"We're going to need more instructors," Sophie said without looking up from her tablet. "Diana can't run every combat session. Seraleth's helping but she's also recovering from injuries. Lila's doing Chi manipulation demonstrations for advanced students. We need at least five more people capable of teaching effectively."

"Promote from within," Noah suggested. "Marcus, Valencia's friend Rita, Chen. Anyone who's demonstrated capability and teaching aptitude. Give them instructor roles and offload some of the training burden."

Sophie made notes. "That works short-term. Long-term we need actual curriculum development. Standardized training protocols. Right now everyone's teaching their own way, which creates inconsistencies."

"Add it to the list of problems we'll solve eventually."

"The list is getting long."

"Welcome to running a faction that's growing faster than we can manage."

Kelvin appeared in the doorway looking harried. "We've got a technical problem. Three of the new recruits have abilities that interfere with our communications network. Every time they use their powers, comms go down across the entire building. I've spent the past four hours trying to isolate the interference and I'm about ready to just tell them they can't use abilities while on-site."

"Can you shield the network?" Noah asked.

"With what budget? Proper shielding for the kind of interference they're generating costs more than I've got allocated for the entire month." Kelvin slumped into a chair. "Also, one of them claimed to have technopathy like me. Turns out they have mechanical aptitude and lied on their application to seem more impressive. So that's fun."

"Reject them for falsifying credentials."

"Already did. They're appealing to Sam, claiming it was an honest mistake based on misunderstanding the terminology." Kelvin rubbed his face. "We need better screening. Half these people don't actually understand what their own abilities do."

The complaints kept coming throughout the week. Equipment shortages because nobody had anticipated needing three times as much gear. Food service struggling to feed everyone despite increasing orders. Training facilities overcrowded to the point where people were practicing chi techniques in the hallways.

Noah found Seraleth on the eighth day, directing a group of new recruits through hand-to-hand fundamentals. Her injuries had healed completely thanks to Eclipse's medical team, but she moved with slightly more caution than before. Muscle memory remembering pain even after flesh had mended.

"You're good at this," Noah observed after the session ended.

"Teaching comes naturally to my people. We believe knowledge shared is strength multiplied." Seraleth gestured at the departing recruits. "Though I confess, human learning patterns are different than what I'm accustomed to. Many want shortcuts, immediate results, rather than understanding that mastery requires time and repetition."

"Welcome to humanity."

"I'm finding it educational." Seraleth's expression shifted to something warmer. "Also, I wanted to thank you. For allowing me to contribute meaningfully to Eclipse's growth. On Lilivil, I was a warrior but also an instructor. Being able to teach again gives me purpose beyond just surviving."

They walked together through headquarters, past rooms converted to temporary sleeping quarters, past the courtyard where Rita was somehow maintaining order among eighty people trying to access the same training schedule. Eclipse had become something different in less than a week. Bigger, louder, more chaotic.

But also more capable. More diverse. More representative of what a faction could become when it actually invested in people instead of just collecting bodies.

Noah spent the evening reviewing final applications with Sam. They'd approved one hundred sixty-three new members, rejected seventy-two, and still had sixty-five pending further review. The numbers felt surreal. Eclipse had gone from forty members to over two hundred in eight days.

"We're going to need a bigger headquarters," Sam said, his exhaustion evident. "This building was designed for maybe seventy-five people maximum. We're at triple capacity and still taking applications."

"Grey family can help with expansion. I'll talk to Lucy about acquiring adjacent properties." Noah scrolled through more applications, noting one flagged by the screening process. "This one's suspicious. Claims to have fire manipulation but the ability assessment shows something different."

"I saw that. Background check came back clean but something about the interview felt off." Sam pulled up the full file. "Could just be nerves. First-time faction applicants sometimes present poorly under pressure."

"Or it's someone with ulterior motives." Noah made a note to have Diana run additional combat assessment on the applicant. "Flag anyone whose story doesn't match their documentation. We can't afford infiltrators with this many new faces."

The ninth day was slightly calmer. Routine was emerging from chaos, systems developing organically as people figured out what worked. Meal schedules staggered to prevent overwhelming the kitchen. Training sessions coordinated so facilities weren't overcrowded. Sleeping arrangements finalized with only minimal complaints about who got actual beds versus floor space.

Noah walked the halls that evening and found something resembling community forming. New recruits talking with original members, sharing stories, comparing abilities. Laughter from common areas where people were decompressing after long days. The smell of food from the expanded kitchen operations.

This was working. Somehow, despite everything, Eclipse was absorbing three hundred percent growth and still functioning.

He was heading back to his quarters when he noticed someone standing outside his door. A recruit, male, maybe mid-twenties. Noah recognized him vaguely from the screening process but couldn't remember specifics.

Before Noah could ask what he needed, Lila appeared from around the corner.

"Hey," she said to the recruit, her voice carrying casual curiosity. "What are you doing?"

The recruit laughed nervously, hand dropping from where it had been resting near Noah's door panel. "Oh, just got turned around. Thought this was the bathroom. These hallways all look the same, you know?"

"The bathrooms are clearly marked." Lila's expression was pleasant but her eyes were calculating. "And this is the leadership residential wing. Recruits aren't assigned quarters here."

"Right, yeah, my mistake." The recruit was already backing away. "I'll just head back to my actual room. Sorry for the confusion."

Lila waited until he'd disappeared around the corner before turning to Noah. "That was suspicious as hell."

"Agreed. Get his name and run a deeper background check." Noah pulled up his door panel, verified the logs. "Looks like he didn't actually try to enter. Just stood here for maybe thirty seconds before you showed up."

"Could've been planning to enter when you got back. Could've been waiting to talk. Could've been legitimately lost." Lila crossed her arms. "But my gut says something's off."

Noah made a mental note to discuss security protocols with Sam. Three hundred new people meant three hundred potential threats, and they'd been so focused on housing and training that screening might have been less thorough than necessary.

Later that night, alone in his quarters, the recruit from earlier sat on his assigned bunk in the converted vehicle bay barracks. Around him, other new members were settling into their sleeping arrangements, talking quietly, winding down from another exhausting day.

He pulled out his phone, typed a message quickly.

*IN*

Then he deleted it, powered down the device, and lay back on his bunk. His lips curved into a small smile, the kind someone wears when they've just accomplished exactly what they set out to do. His shoulders relaxed, tension draining away now that the hard part was over.

The message had already been sent.

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