2026-09-15 16:25:17
Anonymous:
Rewrite enemy roster around mixed-horde pressure and player responses
hold the flood/combat and enemy roster.md ..
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# Hold The Horde — Combat And Enemy Roster
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This page gives the shared combat-state sheet and a small roster: six ordinary pressure roles, three special roles and two major setpieces, with their placement across the four regions and twelve objectives. Owner decisions are recorded in the [Owner Brief](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Brief).
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The astronaut enters the Balance Gallery to close one pressure cap and inspect a far-wall mark. Across a fixed structural rib, a **Bellback** plants its feet and draws dust into a bright forward cone. Two feeding mouths begin opening behind it. Slow **Pressers** pour onto the gallery floor while a Breath Bank frosts one lane and the balance chamber leans toward whichever plate carries more weight.
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## Classification and origin evidence
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The player is not choosing one enemy for a duel. They are choosing where the crowd should gather. Sealing one mouth early makes the room safer but gives the build less density to exploit. Holding the centre lets automatic fire keep working and puts more bodies in an arc chain, but Bellback’s locked pressure wave may scatter the knot or throw the astronaut off the cap control. The player can step behind the rib, face a manual Barrier into the wave, interrupt the unfinished brace with a Nozzle, or defeat Bellback. Each answer is visible before commitment.
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An **ordinary role** is a crowd member: it has one principal warning/action loop that stays readable while dozens of others move around it, and its crowd arrives from a physical source area as [Combat Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Combat%20Rules) describes. A **special role** changes the local geometry, target visibility or oxygen clock strongly enough to deserve a featured entrance and additional recovery space. “Special” does not mean invulnerable or guaranteed rare; a ridiculous build may erase it before its first action.
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When the first announced crowd band has committed and Bellback has been answered, in either order, the gallery makes a larger temporary transformation ready while later bodies are still arriving. A developed Storm Choir can enter the connected mass and release its stored storm; an ordinary Presser validly reached by the climax falls, while routes, cover and special-creature strength still limit the result. A cautious player can instead shelter at the rib, cross on the Bank’s opposite beat, occupy the stirrup and complete one lasting cap cycle. Both paths pursue the same discovery. The intended pleasure is turning a crowd that was closing the room into the shape that makes a ridiculous build sing, then earning enough quiet to notice what the station was hiding.
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Presser, Flanker and Caller deepen the current Combat Rules roles. Bellback, Shutterback and Glass Siphon keep the behavior in Horde Creature Proposals and are classified as the three specials. Boltspitter, Clampcrawler and Veilbearer fill distinct ranged-line, occupied-control and temporary-occlusion gaps. Shutterback differs from Veilbearer: the ordinary Veilbearer creates a short, fixed, two-sided sight break; the special Shutterback is itself visible mobile angled shelter for a group.
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The owner has selected mostly automatic ordinary fire with manually activated specials; the particular creatures, placements, counts and timings here remain proposals. [Combat Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Combat%20Rules) owns crowd rhythm and temporary growth, while [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) and [Mechanical Interfaces](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Mechanical%20Interfaces%20And%20Opening%20Quantities) own rig behavior.
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Creature origin is left open as a **two-occupant experiment**. Authors may visibly combine older ceramic lattice, non-human joints and pre-hospital maker marks with later restraint bands, ward paint, surgical fasteners or human service hardware. Those are observable materials and relative layers. “Ancient test organism,” “altered patient,” “hospital machine grown into a body” and “later hybrid” are player or survivor interpretations, never combat facts or settled history. Each role below names an evidence mix so later rooms can support or contradict it.
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## What each enemy adds to a crowd
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## Shared qualitative combat-state sheet
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An **ordinary role** is a readable crowd member with one main warning, action and recovery. Its job is to change a lane or a decision while dozens of bodies may be moving. A **special role** changes the whole local fight—force, moving cover or oxygen pressure—enough to need a featured entrance and more recovery space. Special does not mean invulnerable, guaranteed rare or guaranteed to survive a developed build.
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| State | Visible rule and player control | Resolution, interruption and persistence |
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| Role | What the player notices | The question it adds |
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| **Unaware / investigating / locally alert** | Facing, sight line and heard/seen source are shown. An enemy follows a reachable visible route toward sight, recent sound or last seen place, searches locally, then disengages. | No global knowledge, unseen shortcut or cross-station tracking. A completed call or mechanism alarm wakes an adjacent source area; its crowd arrives only through routes shown before arrival. |
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| **Ordinary automatic fire** | Each ordinary weapon output shows its reach, readiness and the nearest visible valid hostile it has selected. A rig may carry more than one ordinary output; power, heat, rig space and carrying capacity limit them, as [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) and [Mechanical Interfaces And Opening Quantities](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Mechanical%20Interfaces%20And%20Opening%20Quantities) define. | No target means the output holds ready, and a launch spends that output's readiness once. How outputs share a trigger and the limits on feedback behaviours are defined in those pages. |
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| **Readiness and occlusion** | Each actuator shows reach, readiness and its selected target. Hard cover, Shutterback plates and a Veilbearer sheet make hostiles across them invalid where they block the actuator's required sight. | Readiness finishing without a target remains ready. Visual occlusion appearing after launch does not erase or retarget an existing projectile; physical cover may intercept it. Journal pause advances no readiness. |
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| **Manual special** | The mapped action shows availability and any facing, selected target or material. The player aims/faces first, then presses. | The manual source starts its external wave under its own rule. Its first and later receivers each check locally; a later refusal does not rewind the wave or refund already consumed material. Rig descendants retain that wave and cannot ready their source. |
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| **Enemy warning / action / recovery** | Every attack has a named wind-up cue, one committing action and a readable recovery. Simultaneous warnings remain individually visible; none waits politely for another. | Each committed enemy attack is its own external wave. Contact-time order resolves simultaneous attacks; no hidden turn order or invulnerability is added. Parts follow their normal per-wave rules and any explicitly named return allowance in [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules); an enemy attack creates no new energy or readiness. |
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| **Barrier, projectile and fixed cover** | Hard structure blocks sight and physical projectiles according to geometry. A faced Barrier intercepts qualifying physical strikes until bypassed or broken; it has no assumed protection from heat, drain or occlusion. | A physical enemy strike or bolt hitting a Barrier is an impact on that Barrier frame. A Dynamo feeds only if locally clamped to that named frame. Player Projector impacts can feed only a Dynamo clamped to that Projector's physical-output feed. Remote collisions never feed it. |
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| **Work while the game runs** | A control shows current stage, completed checkpoints, occupied state and any cued alarm entrance. Continue, cancel, defend or withdraw remain available. | Damage alone reduces condition but does not cancel. Explicit cancel, displacement out of reach or a creature occupying the control loses the unfinished stage. Re-entering begins that stage again; completed physical checkpoints persist. Incremental oxygen transfer keeps its separately committed increments. |
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| **Tethered drain / consumed oxygen** | Ordinary suit drain is continuous and visible. Glass Siphon adds a separately shown tether/radius and higher drain only while attached. | Tether launch is an attack; the continuing tether is one ongoing state, not fresh waves or an inventory subtraction. Gas already breathed stays spent. Breaking the tether stops only its extra drain; no offscreen or instant canister loss occurs. |
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| **Break / quiet window** | Defeated enemies stay defeated for that expedition. A resolved stage shows whether its source is sealed, spent or still able to release another announced stage, and whether any woken crowd is still travelling. | No counter-spawn, reward reduction or replacement elite reacts to success. A quiet window lasts until a still-occupied area sends bodies through a visible route or a source acts. Mechanisms remain whatever their own state says. |
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| **Withdrawal / living return** | The astronaut must physically reach an exit. Completed work and records remain; an unfinished stage does not. | Local withdrawal does not renew the ongoing expedition's population. A living return brings carried property home, keeps the arrangement and ends temporary combat upgrades and unchosen offers. The next expedition renews enemies and combat-growth opportunities through viable sources and routes while permanent work remains. The old breadcrumb promises no safety. |
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| **Death and shift** | Condition or oxygen death ends the current expedition. Everything still carried, including active rig parts and new loot, returns once, and temporary combat upgrades end. | Spent gas/material stays spent; dropped or fixture-installed property remains there. Completed work and selected bindings persist. The station shifts once; the next expedition renews combat for that new arrangement, just as living returns renew combat without shifting it. Viable sources and permanent work constrain the population, which never reacts to the player's build or success. Prior routes become historical. |
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| **Journal open** | The current view and stored records are available for comparison. Changing rig links there follows [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules). | Enemies, oxygen, tethers, projectiles, alerts, warnings, recovery, readiness and work all freeze. Nothing attacks, drains, moves or completes while paused. Picking up or first fitting a new part and operating station machinery still take running time. |
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The nearest-visible rule is the targeting default. Examples on this page may use more than one ordinary output where a rig carries them.
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Regular fighting supplies temporary combat growth, with larger transformations at major horde milestones. [Combat Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Combat%20Rules) owns the detailed cadence, offers, milestone conditions and renewed-population proposals; those opportunities renew each expedition while permanent work remains.
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| **Presser** | Broad body and drawn-back striking arm | Can I keep the slow mass on one side? |
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| **Flanker** | Tilted runner and a side-lane chevron | Which route reaches my side first? |
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| **Caller** | Bright throat shutters beside a matching source lamp | Do I stop the next surge or invite it? |
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| **Boltspitter** | Filling pressure sac and a line that locks | Where is the next break in sight? |
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| **Clampcrawler** | Small clamp body crouching over active work | Do I bait the leap or abandon this stage? |
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| **Veilbearer** | Two anchors opening a fixed translucent sheet | How do I restore a valid firing angle? |
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| **Bellback** | Planted body and a locked pressure cone | Where will this force move me and the horde? |
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| **Shutterback** | Visible carrier opening a turning plate fan | Do I flank the moving shelter or break its clamps? |
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| **Glass Siphon** | Flashing bladder, hose line and tether radius | How much oxygen will I spend to stay here? |
## Six ordinary pressure roles
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### 1. Presser — the slow majority that fills the lane
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### Presser — the lane-filling majority
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**Read and origin evidence.** A broad chest, dragging close arm and bright contact plates make its reach visible. A shoulder drop and full arm draw are the strike warning. A ward restraint strip over older joint plates could indicate an altered patient, a reused test body or a later hybrid; only the layered materials are fact.
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**What you see and fear.** A broad chest, dragging close arm and bright contact plates make its reach obvious. The shoulder drops and the whole arm draws back before one forward strike. Pressers are dangerous mainly because many of them fill the useful lane while another role attacks the side, sightline or work position.
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**Perception and timing.** Presser follows local sight, recent sound or a last-seen point along a reachable route. At close reach it winds up with the shoulder drop, commits one forward strike into the locked contact arc, then plants both feet through recovery before it can wind up again.
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**How you turn it.** Back out during the draw, circle fixed cover, keep firing automatically, or use the cutter when one is isolated. A faced Barrier buys work time; Manual Trigger → Vector Nozzle can open the approach. Packed Pressers are also the connected bodies an Arc or pull build wants. A developed climax defeats an ordinary Presser it validly reaches, but its shown route and contact limits still decide which bodies count.
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**Effect and work.** A hit is one external attack wave, reduces condition and gives a short shown shove. Damage alone does not stop work; the shove cancels only if it moves the astronaut off the control. Contact with a faced Barrier is an impact at that frame and can feed a Dynamo clamped there once for this wave.
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**Exact action.** It follows local sight, recent sound or the last seen place along a reachable route. At close reach it warns, locks one forward contact arc, commits one external attack wave, then plants both feet through recovery. A hit reduces condition and gives a short shown shove. Damage alone does not interrupt work; displacement cancels only when it moves the astronaut off the control. A strike on a correctly faced Barrier is a local impact and can feed a Dynamo clamped to that frame once for this wave.
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**Choice and responses.** Back out of reach during wind-up, circle fixed cover, defeat it with ordinary automatic fire or commit to the cutter when isolated. Manual Barrier buys work time; Manual → Nozzle can break the approach. The viable no-unique-part baseline is movement, hard cover and the worn cutter. Packed Pressers make lane space costly, but they share no omniscience. In a crowd they are the dense line an arc or pull build wants, and the wall a cautious player keeps to one side. Under the developed-climax rule, a Presser validly reached by Thunderhead, Foundry Drop or Furnace Burst is defeated. The routes and contact limits in [Mechanical Interfaces](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Mechanical%20Interfaces%20And%20Opening%20Quantities) determine which bodies are reached; the coverage count is not a universal damage value or a survival rule for special creatures.
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**What its body suggests.** A hospital restraint strip lies over older joint plates. Altered patient, reused test body and later hybrid remain interpretations, not combat facts.
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### 2. Flanker — the fast pack on the side route
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### Flanker — the pack on the side route
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**Read and origin evidence.** A narrow tilted body, long outside leg and reflective side-facing cheek plates point toward its preferred route. Hospital mobility braces bolted to older asymmetric joints support competing repair/patient/experiment readings without settling one.
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**What you see and fear.** A narrow tilted body, long outside leg and reflective cheek plates point toward its preferred approach. While Pressers own the direct lane, a Flanker pack makes the astronaut keep a connected side passage in view.
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**Perception and timing.** Flanker uses sight or a locally investigated sound. When the direct lane is blocked, it chooses only a currently connected side approach visible from its decision point; it never teleports or knows an unseen route. At side reach its outer leg folds, a floor chevron shows the lunge line, it commits one cross-lane body strike, then skids and visibly regains stance before another action.
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**How you turn it.** Move so the side route becomes longer, force the pack around fixed cover, face a Barrier across the announced lunge, or use Nozzle to spoil the committed line. Walking and doorway geometry remain sufficient; no unique part is required.
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**Effect and work.** The lunge is one external attack wave. It causes condition loss and lateral displacement; only leaving reach or losing the control interrupts work. A Barrier catches it only when actually faced across the lunge. That impact may feed a Dynamo clamped to the Barrier, never a remote clamp.
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**Exact action.** A Flanker uses sight or investigated local sound. When the direct lane is blocked, it chooses only a side route currently connected and visible from its decision point; it never teleports or knows an unseen path. At side reach, its outside leg folds and a floor chevron follows the intended lunge until commitment. It then makes one cross-lane body strike as one external wave, causing condition loss and lateral displacement, before skidding through a visible stance recovery. Work is interrupted only if the displacement loses the control. Barrier and Dynamo apply only at the actual faced contact.
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**Choice and responses.** Keep the side route in view, move so it lengthens, use fixed cover to force another approach, or defeat the Flanker. A manual Barrier can guard the chosen side; a faced Nozzle can turn its committed lane into a miss. Baseline movement and doorway geometry remain sufficient. Flankers usually arrive as a pack while the slow mass holds the main lane, so where the astronaut stands decides which reaches them first.
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**What its body suggests.** Hospital mobility braces are bolted to older asymmetric joints. Repair, patient and experiment remain competing readings.
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### 3. Caller — wake the next source area
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### Caller — the choice to wake more
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**Read and origin evidence.** A tall resonant cavity, visible throat shutters and a lamp matching one local alarm source identify it. Later hospital speaker wire laced through older chamber ribs supports several origins; the matching signal path is the observed fact.
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**What you see and fear.** A tall resonant cavity, brightening throat shutters and a lamp matching one nearby source make the consequence visible. Caller does not make the current crowd tougher; it threatens to bring the next physical source into the fight.
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**Perception and timing.** Caller reacts to local sight, recent noisy work or a stated mechanism alarm. It braces beside its shown source, throat shutters brighten through the wind-up, then one completed call commits to the already cued entrance. It vents with head lowered during recovery and cannot begin another brace until that finishes.
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**How you turn it.** Focus it, cut the named alarm lead, obstruct or displace it during the brace, seal the answering route, or withdraw before the crowd arrives. Barrier can buy time but does not silence it. Nozzle is a strong interruption. A powerful build may deliberately let the call finish because the second surge offers useful density and more fighting growth.
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**Effect and work.** The completed call is one external event/wave for ancestry, but carries no damaging packet or impact and has no receiver in the current catalogue. It wakes one adjacent source area whose route was shown before the brace; that crowd then arrives physically, and each later attack is its own wave. The call itself neither cancels a stage nor creates enemies from nothing, and a source area already sealed or exhausted cannot answer.
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**Exact action.** Caller reacts to local sight, recent noisy work or a stated mechanism alarm, then braces beside its shown source. Completing the throat-shutter warning commits one external event to the already cued entrance. The event has no damage, impact or compatible current receiver; it wakes one adjacent source whose crowd arrives physically. Cutting the lead after commitment cannot recall bodies. A sealed or exhausted source cannot answer. Caller lowers and vents through recovery before it can brace again.
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**Choice and responses.** Rush or automatically focus the visible Caller, obstruct or displace it during the brace, cut the named alarm lead, seal the answering route, or withdraw before its crowd arrives. Letting it call is also a choice: a strong build may want the second surge. Manual Nozzle is a strong brace interrupt; Barrier can buy time but does not silence it. Baseline cutter, ordinary fire, hard cover and the physical alarm-lead checkpoint prevent a required part gate.
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**What its body suggests.** Hospital speaker wire is laced through older chamber ribs. The observed signal path is fact; its maker and intended use are not.
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### 4. Boltspitter — demand a readable ranged line
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### Boltspitter — the readable ranged line
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**Read and origin evidence.** A narrow tripod torso carries a translucent pressure sac and one straight launch rail. The sac fills, an aim line brightens and the rail clicks before release. A human injector rail on a ceramic pressure organ is visible; weapon, treatment tool and older test apparatus remain competing interpretations.
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**What you see and fear.** A tripod torso carries one translucent pressure sac and a straight launch rail. The sac fills, an aim line brightens, and the final rail click tells the player the line has locked. In a horde, that line makes standing still at a mechanism costly.
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**Perception and timing.** Boltspitter needs current sight and will not fire through its own known occluder. During wind-up the aim line follows, then locks at the final rail click. It launches one bolt along that line and must empty/refill the sac through recovery before winding up again.
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**How you turn it.** Break sight during wind-up, step away after the line locks, cross behind hard cover, displace the rail or defeat it. A manual Barrier catches a correctly faced bolt; Nozzle can spoil its locked facing where geometry permits. The baseline answer is the warning and cover, not a specific part.
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**Effect and work.** Launch is one external attack wave; bolt flight, cover contact and fragments from that bolt are descendants of it. A body hit reduces condition and can knock the astronaut off a control. A hard-cover hit stops it. A faced Barrier hit is a qualifying impact only for a Dynamo locally clamped to that Barrier.
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**Exact action.** Boltspitter needs current sight and will not fire through its own known occluder. The line tracks during wind-up and fixes at the final click. It launches one bolt as one external wave, then empties and refills its sac through recovery. Bolt flight, any cover contact and its fragments remain descendants of that one wave. A body hit reduces condition and may knock the astronaut away from work. Hard cover stops it. A Barrier impact can feed only a Dynamo locally clamped to that Barrier.
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**Choice and responses.** Step out after line lock, cross behind hard cover, break sight during wind-up, displace the rail or defeat it. Barrier manually catches a shot; Nozzle can spoil its locked facing where geometry allows. The baseline is the telegraphed line plus cover, not a specific part.
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**What its body suggests.** A human injector rail sits on a ceramic pressure organ. Weapon, treatment tool and older test apparatus remain possible readings.
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### 5. Clampcrawler — occupy the work, not the inventory
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### Clampcrawler — occupy the work
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**Read and origin evidence.** A small six-limbed body with bright clamp jaws and an arched leap posture reads differently from dropped loot. Crash-cart clamps attached to older adhesion pads could indicate a maintenance organism or changed hospital tool; it never steals an item.
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**What you see and fear.** A small six-limbed body has bright clamp jaws and an arched leap posture, visually distinct from loot. It watches an active control, forcing a choice between finishing the current stage and baiting a predictable commitment.
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**Perception and timing.** It follows local sight/sound. If a visible control becomes active within its room, it faces the astronaut operating it. During the crouch, the landing arc follows the operator until the clamp jaws flash; that flash locks the arc to the astronaut's current position. Cancelling before lock makes the inactive control ineligible, so the Crawler drops the crouch and resumes pursuit without leaping. After lock, cancelling does not stop the committed leap: moving outside the fixed arc makes it miss and skid through recovery, while remaining at the control lets the body strike and jaws catch the panel. A latched Crawler occupies the control until displaced or defeated; after removal it rights itself before acting again.
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**How you turn it.** Start work, wait for the jaw-flash lock, cancel and step outside the fixed landing arc so it skids through recovery. The player can also interrupt it before commitment, intercept the body with Barrier, displace it with Nozzle or clear it before working. It never steals an item.
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**Effect and work.** The leap is one external attack wave. Body contact causes modest condition loss and displacement; a panel landing causes no invisible damage but explicitly interrupts the current unfinished stage by occupying the control. Remaining latched is state, not a stream of new attacks. It cannot erase a completed checkpoint or consume material.
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**Exact action.** It follows local sight and sound. When a visible control is active in its room, the crouched landing arc tracks the operator until the jaws flash and lock to the astronaut’s position. Cancelling before lock makes the inactive control ineligible and drops the crouch without a leap. Cancelling after lock does not undo the committed external attack wave. A body landing causes modest condition loss and displacement. A panel landing explicitly interrupts the unfinished work stage and leaves the Crawler occupying that control until displaced or defeated. The latch is an ongoing state, not repeated attacks; it cannot erase a completed checkpoint or consume material. After removal, it rights itself through recovery.
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**Choice and responses.** Begin work to draw the crouch, wait for the visible jaw-flash lock, then cancel and leave the fixed landing arc so it skids; alternatively interrupt/defeat it before commitment or clear it before working. Manual Barrier can intercept the committed body and Manual → Nozzle can displace it. The baseline lock-read, movement and cutter path uses no unique equipment.
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**What its body suggests.** Crash-cart clamps meet older adhesion pads. Maintenance organism and changed hospital tool remain interpretations.
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### 6. Veilbearer — create a temporary sight problem
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### Veilbearer — a temporary sight problem
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**Read and origin evidence.** A hunched carrier has a folded translucent membrane and two bright floor anchors. It opens both arms and projects the exact sheet edge before release. Hospital isolation film grown over older frame limbs supports shield, quarantine and experiment interpretations.
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**What you see and fear.** A hunched carrier unfolds a translucent membrane between two bright floor anchors. Its edge is previewed before release. The fixed sheet briefly hides allies from automatic targeting, so the player must move rather than wait for a weapon to solve visibility.
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**Perception and timing.** With sight of the astronaut and at least one visible allied creature behind the previewed sheet, it winds up by extending the two anchors, commits one fixed veil between them, then remains unable to cast while the veil's shown edge decays. Collapse is followed by a brief refold recovery. Losing the eligible ally, losing sight, displacement or defeat before commitment aborts the cast; moving the bearer afterwards does not drag the anchored sheet.
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**How you turn it.** Reach an edge, wait for decay, interrupt or displace the bearer during wind-up, or defeat the exposed body. Barrier can hold Pressers while the player flanks but cannot erase the sheet. Unlike Shutterback, the veil is fixed, short-lived and does not turn with the sheltered group.
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**Effect and work.** Veil release starts one external wave but has no impact, damage, oxygen effect or compatible current rig packet. The sheet temporarily blocks required sight for both sides. It makes sheltered hostiles invalid automatic targets; it neither damages nor cancels work while the game runs. The persistent sheet state emits no further waves.
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**Exact action.** The bearer needs sight of the astronaut and at least one visible ally behind the preview. Losing either, or being displaced or defeated before commitment, aborts the cast. Commitment starts one external wave and anchors the sheet; moving the bearer later does not drag it. The sheet blocks required sight in both directions, making sheltered hostiles invalid targets. It causes no damage, impact, oxygen effect or compatible rig packet and emits no later waves. The bearer cannot cast again while the edge visibly decays; collapse is followed by refold recovery.
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**Choice and responses.** Reposition around its edge, wait for decay, interrupt the wind-up, or defeat the exposed bearer before release. A manual Nozzle can displace the bearer during wind-up; Barrier can hold Pressers while the player flanks but does not erase the veil. Baseline walking and fixed cover remain viable. Unlike Shutterback, this sheet is stationary, short-lived and does not turn with a protected group.
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**What its body suggests.** Hospital isolation film has grown over older frame limbs. Shield, quarantine and experiment remain open readings.
## Three special roles
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### 7. Bellback — redirect a force wave
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### Bellback — move the horde with one force wave
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**Read, evidence and targeting.** A low four-limbed body, hollow bell chest, dragging arms, rising moan, dust draw and a bright, limited forward cone. Older compression plates under a hospital harness are visible; ascension apparatus and compression-treatment patient remain competing interpretations. After held local sight, Bellback faces the last seen point; it does not track through an unseen route.
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**What changes in the fight.** A low four-limbed body with a hollow bell chest plants, moans and draws dust into a bright limited cone. At warning start it faces the last seen point and locks the cone. The player can therefore use the coming force: leave it, put a rib between it and the astronaut, or allow it to shove loose bodies toward a useful plate or knot.
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**Wind-up, action and recovery.** At the start of the visible plant/dust-draw warning, Bellback faces the last-seen point and the cone direction locks. The bright ripple fills within that already fixed cone. Completing the brace releases one pressure wave through it, then the chest collapses and it must unplant/refill before another brace. Leaving the cone or reaching hard cover avoids the release without cancelling it; displacing or defeating Bellback during brace interrupts it.
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**Exact action and answers.** If the brace completes, Bellback releases one pressure wave and then collapses, unplants and refills through recovery. Pressure, shoved bodies and their resulting collisions are descendants of that one external wave. It damages condition and moves the astronaut, loose objects and unbraced creatures until structure stops them; work ends only if displacement loses the control. Displacement or defeat during the unfinished brace interrupts it. Manual Nozzle can break the brace. An accepted Inward Draft with clear line moves Bellback at most two metres, uses one body slot and interrupts an unfinished brace; cover blocks the pull. Leaving the locked cone or reaching hard cover avoids the release without cancelling it. Barrier can face the impact. Dynamo receives only a hit on its named local carrier, never remote body collisions. A released wave remains committed.
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**Effect and response.** The release is one external attack wave. The pressure, shoved bodies and their resulting collisions are descendants of that wave. It damages condition and displaces the astronaut, loose objects and unbraced creatures until solid structure stops them; work stops only if displacement loses the control. Manual Nozzle can break the brace and Barrier can face the impact. Temporary Inward Draft is also a Nozzle displacement: an accepted pull with clear line moves Bellback at most two metres, uses one body slot and interrupts an unfinished brace. Cover blocks that pull; a wave already released remains committed. A Dynamo feeds only when clamped to the struck Barrier or an explicitly named fixture surface, not from remote body collisions. Baseline pillar cover, walking out of the locked cone or concentrated cutter/ordinary fire remains viable.
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**What its body suggests.** Older compression plates sit under a hospital harness. Ascension apparatus and compression-treatment patient remain interpretations.
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### 8. Shutterback — turn cover into a moving angle
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### Shutterback — moving shelter for a group
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**Read, evidence and targeting.** A tall carrier, folded plate fan, heel-clamp click and floor shadow preview. A hospital radiation fan on non-human load joints is observable; mobile treatment barrier and older experiment screen remain competing interpretations. It needs local sight and visible allies behind its shelter angle.
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**What changes in the fight.** A tall visible carrier unfolds a plate fan. A heel-clamp click and floor-shadow preview announce its first shelter angle; while open, it turns slowly within a shown limit so the safe firing angle moves with the group. The player decides whether to take the longer flank, attack the exposed carrier or break the clamps before the shelter protects a second pressure.
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**Wind-up, action and recovery.** Heel clamps set and the preview shadow fixes the initial angle; the fan then opens. While open, Shutterback stays visible and slowly turns within its shown limit, sheltering bodies behind it. Breaking clamps, sufficient damage or defeat collapses the fan; after collapse it must fold and regain stance before another opening.
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**Exact action and answers.** Shutterback needs local sight and visible allies behind its shelter angle. The heel clamps set and the shadow fixes before the fan opens. Opening starts one external wave but adds no impact, payload or rig packet. The plates block sight and ordinary projectiles through their actual angle; sheltered enemies are invalid automatic targets. A projectile already in flight continues and stops only if it physically hits a plate. Breaking the clamps, sufficient damage or defeat collapses the fan; folding and regaining stance form recovery. Manual Nozzle can rotate or break the clamps. Arc has no permission to ignore the screen. Sustained ordinary fire, hard cover and the longer visible angle remain baseline responses.
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**Effect and response.** Fan opening starts one external wave but carries no impact, payload or compatible current rig packet. Plates block sight and ordinary projectiles through their angle; sheltered hostiles are invalid automatic targets. Already launched projectiles are stopped only if they physically meet the plates. Manual Nozzle can rotate/break the clamps, flanking exposes the crowd, and Projector impacts on the fan can feed only a Dynamo clamped to that Projector output. Baseline use of the longer visible angle, hard cover and sustained ordinary fire against the exposed Shutterback remains valid. Arc has no permission to ignore the screen.
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**What its body suggests.** A hospital radiation fan rides on non-human load joints. Treatment barrier and older experiment screen remain competing readings.
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### 9. Glass Siphon — make remaining time local and visible
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### Glass Siphon — make oxygen pressure local
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**Read, evidence and targeting.** A narrow tripod, translucent bladder, hose arm, empty-bladder flash, audible/visual wind-up, tether line and radius. A crash-cart hose on an older breath-transfer bladder is visible; resuscitation device, alien respiration test and hybrid remain interpretations. It requires local sight and unobstructed line within its shown radius.
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**What changes in the fight.** A narrow tripod shows a translucent bladder, hose arm, line and radius. The empty-bladder flash locks the tracked launch line. If the hose attaches, the player sees a second drain beside ordinary suit use and must decide whether this work stage is worth the oxygen.
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**Wind-up, action and recovery.** It braces and tracks during the warning; the launch line locks at the bladder flash, then one hose strike commits. A miss retracts fully before another brace. A hit attaches the tether until the astronaut leaves radius, breaks line with hard cover, displaces or defeats Siphon; after break it retracts through visible recovery.
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**Exact action and answers.** Siphon needs local sight and unobstructed line within its shown radius. It tracks during the brace, locks at the flash and commits one hose strike as one external wave. A miss retracts fully before another brace. A hit creates one continuing tether state—not repeated waves, damage ticks, canister deletion or offscreen loss. It adds drain only while attached. Leaving the radius, breaking line with hard cover, displacing or defeating Siphon breaks it, followed by visible retraction recovery. Barrier may intercept the physical launch and feed a Dynamo clamped to that frame. Barrier or Nozzle can stop the launch or break its geometry; pillar bait, line breaking and ordinary or cutter defeat remain baseline. Work may continue while tethered at the displayed higher oxygen cost.
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**Effect and response.** Hose launch is one external attack wave. A Barrier interception is a physical impact that can feed a Dynamo clamped to that Barrier. An attached tether adds visible continuous suit drain but no further waves, damage ticks, canister deletion or offscreen effect. Manual Barrier/Nozzle can stop the launch or break its geometry. Baseline pillar bait, leaving the radius, line breaking and ordinary/cutter defeat remain viable; work may continue while tethered at the openly higher oxygen cost.
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**What its body suggests.** A crash-cart hose is fixed to an older breath-transfer bladder. Resuscitation device, respiration test and hybrid remain interpretations.
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## Four-region and twelve-objective pressure allocation
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## Shared combat reference
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This allocation creates **ten encounter placements inside existing objective instances 1–9 and 11**. Objectives 10 and 12 add none: 10's readiness report is ship-side, while 12 must reuse the actual populations of the eventual connected rooms until its joining mechanism is selected. The two major setpieces below are placements 8 and 10 in this same list, not two additional rooms. **Every placement except objective 3's deliberately quiet first latch lesson is a crowd encounter:** the roles below are the recognisable members and teaching cues inside crowds fed by source areas, and [Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Encounter%20And%20Mechanism%20Placement%20Inventory) owns each placement's source areas, crowd scale and any host rework.
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### Perception, targeting and commitment
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This roster allocates **ten placements within the thirteen-major-mechanism SMALL first pass**: two Triage Relays (objectives 1/3), two Carousels (2/5), two Breath Banks (6/8), one Phase-Balance chamber (8), two Resuscitation Grids (7/9), and the pressure-receiver iris/two-clamp assembly (11). These are P01–P10 in [Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Encounter%20And%20Mechanism%20Placement%20Inventory); P11 clinical profile comparator, P12 Synchronization converter/roster and P13 core isolation are assigned there. Objective 4's quarantine Arc source and objective 5's Lens exchanger are equipment fixtures, not mechanism slots.
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Enemies attack on local sight, investigate recent sound or a last seen place, search locally and give up. They do not gain global knowledge, use unseen shortcuts or track across the station. A completed call or named alarm can alert an adjacent source, but its arrivals use a route shown before they appear.
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| Existing objective / encounter placement | Crowd and first readable cue | Crest decision | Reused trap/work and how quiet is earned |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| **R1 / 1. Collar isolation / placement 1** | A slow crowd of Pressers already fills the cargo aisle's two lanes; the first to reach the player teach backswing, direct lane and nearest visible target. A Caller braces beside the patient-bay alarm before the noisy final fastener. | Let the Caller wake the patient-bay stage and fight it through the shutter lane, silence the Caller first, or finish a fastener and retreat. A board- or Fork-held shutter holds that lane only while it is held. | Simple Triage Relay/alarm lead. Cutting the lead, completing the relay's manual dog with the shutter across the patient-bay lane, or clearing the stage creates a shown quiet window; completed fasteners persist. |
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| **R1 / 2. Pace calibration / placement 2** | A Boltspitter across the single pillar teaches sac fill, final line lock and cover while a thin stream of Pressers enters from the far end of the bay. If objective 5 was reached first, this reinforces rather than introduces the ranged line. | Standing still for the gait record while the stream thickens: clear the lane, bait the bolt, or defer. | Single-detent Sterilization Carousel. Cool detent, Boltspitter refill and dropping the duct grille are separate visible windows; the astronaut comparison remains possible without combat gear. |
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| **R1 / 3. First local latch / placement 3** | On the first lesson one Clampcrawler at the latch is the whole fight inside the hall — a deliberately quiet teaching beat reached through the ordinary crowded route. | On an eligible later expedition after the first lesson, the alarm-only shutter can release a crowd from its source volume if the relay alert completes: draw the Crawler's leap, hold the lane, or cut the lead first. | Triage Relay control occupation; cut alarm and completed latch stages persist. No creature supplies the local charged cradle. |
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| **R2 / 4. R-3 crossing / placement 4** | A Flanker pack works the side passage while Pressers pour into the contested junction through a ward-wing feeding grille. If objective 6 was reached first, the pack reinforces an earlier lesson. | Transfer begins only on a walked, prepared short route that is demonstrably quiet or separated — cleared, bypassed into a shown quiet state, or cut off by a persistent local closure. Killing every creature, or both clearing and sealing, is not required, and the rescue never becomes an escort fight. | Quarantine Arc fixture and hard cover. Regular combat growth and major-milestone rewards are separate from whether the crossing may start; Combat Rules owns their detailed proposals. |
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| **R2 / 5. Builders' runs / placement 5** | The pump hall gives a Boltspitter one straight line and a pillar while Pressers drift in along the overhead main's gantry; in the cable junction a Veilbearer screens the crowd behind a transparent service rail. | Frame records while veils hide the thickening crowd: flank, wait for decay, or risk the locked firing line while committing a capture. A strong build can clear the rail crowd and read in peace. | Sterilization exchanger/Carousel sight glare. Record framing stays in running time and the completed record persists; veil collapse, Boltspitter refill and sealing the gantry are known windows. |
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| **R2 / 6. Pressure ledger / placement 6** | The long pressure hall carries a slow crowd from its side wards with a Flanker pack in the side gallery; Glass Siphon waits across the sampling loop's pillars to teach the tether before valve work. If objective 4 was reached first, the Flanker pack is reinforcement. | Siphon plus crowd at the valve: break the drain, hold the side lane, or complete one cap. It matters to persistent work and carrying-return margin, not only kills. | Breath Bank and cap checkpoints. Sealing the ward doors, Siphon retraction and the Bank's opposite quiet lane make work windows; completed caps persist. |
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| **R3 / 7. Transfer pairs / placement 7** | A Veilbearer screens a Boltspitter across separated evidence stations while crowds from the transfer galleries press toward the sorting bay through feeding hatches above the walkable branches. | Change observation angle, interrupt the cast, fight the crowd off the evidence strip, or postpone the directional test. | One-way transfer fixture and optional Resuscitation Grid, which a dense crowd can trigger. Grid neutral/recharge, veil decay and sealing the feeding hatches are visible; captured evidence persists and no arrival proves translation. |
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| **R3 / 8. Balance and decontamination / placement 8, setpiece A** | Bellback is previewed across a fixed rib while a large crowd waits in the broad gallery's two visible feeding mouths. | Bellback's force, the crowd and Breath Bank/Phase-Balance timing turn into a cap/pin decision. See setpiece A. | Existing Phase-Balance and Breath Bank placement. Fixed rib, neutral line, sealed mouths and completed cap/pin create the low-power path and durable progress. |
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| **R3 / 9. Regulator reply / placement 9** | Shutterback opens its fan to shelter a crowd of Pressers moving down the rack aisles, teaching the floor shadow and exposed carrier. | Shutterback plus Caller: flank the plate, break clamps, stop the call that would wake the next source, or finish the R4 pull while sight is blocked. | Resuscitation Grid/strip-work fixture. A cut alarm lead, collapsed fan recovery, broken surge and completed pull/plate states create known windows. |
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| **R4 / 10. Ship readiness test / no new placement** | No station encounter is added to a ship-side installation/report. | Any component retrieval pressure belongs to its source objective. | Safe ship context; no enemy state or running work. |
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| **R4 / 11. Pressure-receiver iris / placement 10, setpiece B** | Siphon and Shutterback each had separate earlier lessons; the long approach hall, its feeding mouths, pillars, fan angle, tether radius and Caller are visible before commitment. | Drain, occlusion and a large surge change whether to take the direct selector, cut the alarm or use the two-clamp line. See setpiece B. | The existing pressure iris and its two-clamp alternative are the only mechanisms. Tether retraction, fan collapse, cut alarm and sealed mouths provide windows; iris/clamp stages persist. |
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| **R4 / 12. Connect every placed region / no new placement yet** | Reuse roles already attached to each actual room; joining reveals no unseen population. | Defend a join only where its future action is noisy/cued. No rescue reconnection, unique enemy or final counter-horde is assumed. | Existing local latches and the connection rule still to be selected. Completed joins persist; historical routes do not become current. |
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By default, each ordinary automatic actuator selects its nearest visible valid hostile within its own reach and source arc. Each output keeps its own readiness and target check, even when several outputs or Fork Relay branches coexist. A failed check preserves present readiness: a recovering actuator stays unready, while a ready actuator without a target stays ready. Commitment seals one target and spends that actuator’s readiness. New occlusion does not erase or retarget an existing projectile, though physical cover may intercept it. Power, heat, rig space and carrying capacity limit simultaneous paths.
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The most important exploration combinations are placement 6, where a crowd and Siphon pressure compete with a durable cap stage, and placement 8, where Bellback and a large crowd interact with visible mechanism force while the player chooses a persistent cap/pin. Placement 9 similarly makes occlusion, and the choice to allow or stop a second surge, matter to record/pull work rather than only kill speed.
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Every enemy attack has a visible warning, one committed action and recovery. Simultaneous warnings remain independent and resolve by actual contact, not a hidden turn order. Each attack or call is one external wave. Its pressure, projectile flight, fragments, pushed bodies or continuing state retain that ancestry and cannot create free readiness or energy. A later refusal never rewinds an earlier commitment. Barrier catches only qualifying physical contact on its faced geometry; Dynamo responds only when locally clamped to the struck Barrier, Projector feed or named fixture surface.
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**Two-order cue check.** Build-and-ship-first sees Boltspitter at 2 before 5/7, Flanker at 4 before 6 and Bellback at 8 before 11. Language-and-network-first instead gets the always-present separated Boltspitter and eligible Veilbearer cue bays at 5 before their pair at 7, and the Flanker-only long-approach segment at 6 before its valve mixture; 2 and 4 later reinforce those cues. These are spatial staging obligations inside placements 5 and 6, not learned-state gates or new prerequisites. The main Receiver Vault uses Siphon/Shutterback, whose separate placements 6/9 precede 11 in both orders; the cheaper Bellback substitution supplies its own threshold rehearsal below rather than assuming objective 8 was visited.
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### Crowds, stages and earned quiet
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## Two major setpieces
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Crowds come from named physical source volumes—wards, ducts, stores or mouths—and enter through visible feeding apertures or warned walking routes. A mapped group may already have walked to its standing position before departure, but those bodies are deducted once from that source. Loading, re-entering, waiting or killing efficiently never duplicates them.
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### Setpiece A — Balance Gallery Hold (objective 8)
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A **stage** is one finite announced release. Fast killing can hold a lane while a source is still feeding; it does not end the stage. Clearing its committed attackers or completing its physical seal resolves it. A preventive seal stops the release and its unpaid growth marks, while a late seal stops access but leaves bodies already through. There is no counter-spawn, tougher replacement or reduced reward because a build succeeds early. Quiet begins only after remaining pressure is cleared, bypassed into a shown quiet state or physically separated. An occupied neighbour may still send bodies through a visible route.
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**One existing-room layout obligation.** The objective 8 room must contain a threshold with full view of Bellback's cone, one fixed structural rib, the Phase-Balance neutral line, one Breath Bank draw lane, one cap control on the protected side and a maintenance stirrup that prevents tilt displacement only while occupied. The broad gallery also needs two visible feeding mouths from adjacent source volumes, each with a sealable shutter and kept separate from the gallery's walking passages, and floor space for a crowd on the 80–150 scale. That is added layout work inside this existing room. No success-triggered population appears.
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Regular fighting supplies temporary upgrades, and named major horde events can offer larger transformations before the crowd is over. Those upgrades, queued choices and unchosen offers last only for the current expedition. A fresh expedition renews combat and growth through viable sources and current routes after either a living return or revival. Permanent closures, completed work and joined rooms remain. Only death also rearranges unjoined rooms. Defeated enemies do not return during the ongoing expedition.
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**Visible phases and objective.** Phase 1: reach the neutral line while Bellback and the Bank advertise different force directions and the first bodies gather. Phase 2: the stage pours from both mouths while Bellback braces; hold, seal a mouth early, or overpower it. Phase 3: in the break, one cap hand-cycle, or the rib's two cutter releases and its pin as separate checkpoints, then optional removal of the Nozzle/exchanger rewards under their own lifecycle. The objective is persistent cap/pin progress and discovery, not mandatory extermination.
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### Work, recovery and return
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**Overpowering clean win.** A developed crowd build — for example an arc chain that feeds on density, with a stored manual release — turns the crest into the payoff: the crowd collapses in the neutral lane, Bellback is caught exposed after its brace, and the gallery goes quiet before the next mechanism cycle. How many ordinary outputs the rig carries and how its links change belong to [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules). No elite, immunity or reduced reward appears.
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Work done while the game runs shows its current stage and committed checkpoints. Explicit cancellation, displacement out of reach or a creature occupying the control loses only the unfinished stage; damage alone does not. Capturing a record is all or nothing. Seals, completed caps, pins, clamps and other owning checkpoints persist.
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**Ordinary low-power path.** With the opening rig — or only movement, cutter and hard cover — the player seals one feeding mouth early, waits behind the fixed rib, leaves Bellback's locked cone, crosses on the Bank's opposite quiet beat and uses the stirrup for one hand-cycle. Closing one cap persists and removes that side's later draw; the player may withdraw and return. Barrier can catch physical debris but does not stop oxygen drain or solve timing.
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The journal fully pauses enemies, oxygen, tethers, projectiles, alerts, warnings, recovery, readiness and work. It can change links among accessible mounted parts, but it completes nothing. Pickup, first fitting, fixture operation and other physical work happen while the game runs.
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**Failure and return.** Displacement loses only the current unfinished cycle. Withdrawal preserves completed cap/pin work. On death the room's stable mechanisms and installed/dropped objects keep their owning state. Each new expedition renews combat through viable sources after either living return or revival, preserving completed work; no failed attempt creates a punitive wave during the ongoing expedition.
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A living retreat requires physically reaching the named exit and does not repopulate the ongoing expedition. Returning aboard alive preserves the arrangement; death shifts unjoined rooms. Either return brings every still-carried part and loot object home once, ends expedition power and begins a fresh combat climb next time. Breathed oxygen and consumed material stay spent. Dropped or station-installed objects remain at their exact locations.
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### Setpiece B — Receiver Vault (objective 11)
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## Where the roster appears
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**One existing-room layout obligation.** The objective 11 instance must give a threshold view of the central pressure iris/gauge, Shutterback's initial shelter angle, Siphon's tether radius, one Caller and the source volumes it can wake. Two fixed pillars break the hose line. The long approach hall carries the main crowd on the 80–150 scale from visible feeding mouths, each sealable; that crowd space is added layout work in the existing approach. Two side alcoves contain the mechanical equalisation clamps, each reachable without crossing behind the closed iris; one alcove offers a longer flank around the fan. The retreat boundary is visible. This adds no mechanism beyond the iris/two-clamp assembly owned by objective 11.
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There are ten encounter placements across the four regions and twelve objectives. Objectives 10 and 12 add no encounter. Setpiece A is placement 8 and setpiece B is placement 10, not extra rooms. Every placement except objective 3’s quiet first latch lesson is a crowd encounter; one featured creature is a teaching cue inside that pressure, not a replacement for it.
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**Visible phases and objective.** Phase 1: cross the approach hall as its stage wakes and choose the exposed direct selector lane, the longer fan flank or the first clamp alcove. Phase 2: let the Caller release the second stage or stop it, and resolve or evade the two special pressures inside the surge. Phase 3: in the break, fill/equalise the receiver through the correct selector or complete both clamp checkpoints, then hand-cycle the iris. Each completed clamp and the opened iris persist. The reward is the passage/evidence cell; no ending truth or rescue is attached.
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| Objective and host | Crowd pressure and player decision | Work, quiet and lasting state |
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|---|---|---|
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| **1 — R02/R03, Freight Split** | Pressers fill two cargo lanes; the noisy last fastener or Caller can release the patient-bay stage. Install Fork to hold rack and shutter, carry it and fight the open lane, cut the alarm, or retreat between fasteners. | P01 Triage dog or clearing earns quiet. Fasteners, dog/alarm state, bridge and the one Fork location persist. |
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| **2 — R05, Pace Calibration** | Boltspitter holds the pillar line while 15–30 Pressers stream from a belt-return duct and thicken during gait work. | Drop the duct grille or clear arrivals. P02 Carousel and each gait capture keep their own checkpoints; Stride/coupler recovery remains separate. |
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| **3 — R08, First Local Latch** | First lesson: one Clampcrawler in a quiet hall. On an eligible later expedition, P03 alert may open an opaque holding volume containing 20–40 Pressers; cutting before commitment prevents it, and there is no seal after the shutter is dogged open. | The introduction-seen bit prevents a same-expedition retry spawn. Latch/refusal/release and committed dog/alarm states persist. |
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| **4 — R11–R13, R-3 Crossing** | A Flanker pack uses the side leg while 25–50 Pressers flow through the quarantine-wing grille around the bollard. | Clear or seal the grille before the prepared short rescue begins; three walking legs stay open. Arc source, stocked abort preparation and confirmed rescue state follow their owners. |
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| **5 — R14/R15, Builders’ Runs** | Boltspitter guards the pump-hall pillar; Veilbearer screens a rail crowd. Gantry and cable-duct stages are separate. In the moving-scan variant, the same sources provide its warned bands and P14 milestone—never duplicate stages. | Seal gantry hatch/duct grille or clear arrivals. P04, captures, wall panel and Lens state persist; the scan bridge keeps its own notch/sample rules. |
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| **6 — R17/R20, Pressure Ledger** | Flankers precede one 40–80 Presser ward release; Siphon waits across the sampling-loop pillars but R20 has no source. Long lane earns bands; the cutter-opened passage is a bypass/return shortcut. | Lock both ward doors or clear the release, then use P05 Breath Bank and cap work. Passage, seals, caps, evidence and Dynamo/core locations persist. |
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| **7 — R24/R23/R21, Transfer Evidence** | Veilbearer and Boltspitter cover separated stations while one 30–60 loft stage uses three R24 hatches. Corrective-pair capture or P14’s far sample can trigger that same stage once. | Dog all hatches or clear arrivals. P06 Grid, pair captures, Cycler location and spent sample persist; transfer lines carry no creatures. |
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| **8 — R25, Balance Gallery; setpiece A** | Bellback, two mouths and 80–150 bodies at once combine with Bank and Balance movement. Seal early, use rib/stirrup, or exploit the centre. | P07/P08 cap and rib-pin checkpoints persist. R26/R27 may hold Nozzle, exchanger and the separate Mara rescue follow-through. |
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| **9 — R28, Regulator Reply** | Shutterback shelters a 30–60 rack-aisle crowd; Caller may release a second ceiling-hatch stage. Flank the fan, break clamps, stop the call or work under occlusion. | Seal grille/hatch or clear arrivals. P09 Grid, alarm, pulls, records and Capacitor location persist; R29/R30 are optional. |
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| **10 — aboard ship** | No station encounter is added to the readiness report. Retrieval pressure belongs to each component’s source objective. | Safe ship work. |
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| **11 — R35–R38, Receiver Vault; setpiece B** | Shutterback, Siphon and Caller combine with an 80–150-body hall stage from two side mouths and a separate far-wall stage. Choose selector lane, long flank or first clamp. | Seal, clear or separate pressure, then complete P10 equalisation/iris work. Clamps, equality, iris and later evidence/isolation states persist. |
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| **12 — R31–R34 and eventual whole station** | No new population is revealed by a join. Existing rooms reuse their actual creatures only; noisy future join work is defended only where cued. | P12 converter/roster and existing latches keep their own rules. No final counter-horde or joining mechanism is assumed. |
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The placement inventory currently contains **fourteen proposed major mechanisms**, including P14 moving scan/bridge. This page assigns creature pressure around them but does not add a mechanism. The two discovery orders keep their teaching cues: build-and-ship-first can meet Boltspitter at objective 2, Flanker at 4 and Bellback at 8; language-and-network-first can see separated Boltspitter/Veilbearer cues at 5 before their pairing at 7 and the Flanker-only approach at 6 before its valve mixture. Siphon at 6 and Shutterback at 9 precede their combination at 11 in either order. The cheaper Bellback version of setpiece B must rehearse its own threshold warning rather than assume objective 8 happened first.
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## The two major setpieces
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### Setpiece A — Balance Gallery Hold
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R25 must show Bellback’s cone, one fixed rib, the Phase-Balance neutral line, one Breath Bank draw lane, a protected cap control, handrail and occupied stirrup from the threshold. Two source mouths sit away from walking passages, with closures accessible from the fighting side and enough outer floor for the proposed 80–150-body simultaneous crowd.
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The first phase teaches the two machine directions while Bellback and bodies gather. The second releases the crowd from both mouths. The player may seal one early, hold the flow, use bodies to load a plate, or overpower it. The third is the earned break: one cap hand-cycle, or two separate cutter releases and a pin for one rib, then optional Nozzle/exchanger recovery. Persistent progress—not extermination—is the objective.
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The major event remembers **horde engaged** and **Bellback answered** once per expedition, in either order. A valid local mouth band or specifically mapped threshold band supplies the first fact. Escaping the locked cone, keeping it behind the rib until release, catching it with a faced Barrier, interrupting the unfinished brace by displacement, or defeating Bellback supplies the second. An unblocked hit does not. Early defeat is remembered and never produces a replacement or immunity. The first opportunities occur before that band’s growth break, leaving a crowd in which to use the transformation.
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With both local mouths permanently sealed in the mapped alternative, R35’s conserved source allocation sends two warned 40–65 bands through R26; the first includes the one renewed Bellback already across the rib, and the second may overlap it. This is part of the single R35 total described below, not a copy. Unpinned balance and uncapped Bank phase reset on withdrawal/death; completed cap, pin, seal and placed-object states remain. A death creates no new punitive wave.
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**Overpowering clean win.** A developed build can take the crest head-on: automatic fire strips the exposed Shutterback, the fan collapses, and a stored manual release clears the packed hall and the Siphon behind it. A player who wants the spectacle may deliberately let the Caller release the second stage and resolve both together. How many ordinary outputs the rig carries and how its links change belong to [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules). A legal build wins with no reactive counter-spawn or invulnerability.
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### Setpiece B — Receiver Vault
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**Ordinary low-power path.** Seal the nearest feeding mouth, bait Siphon's announced hose into a pillar, cross during full retraction, use the longer alcove outside Shutterback's shelter, and cut the Caller's exposed alarm lead. Complete one clamp and withdraw. On a later reachable visit, repeat for the second clamp and hand-cycle after the gauge equalises. Opening-rig Barrier may catch one hose/strike, but fixed cover, movement and cutter are sufficient; no unique part, language conclusion or survivor is required.
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R35’s threshold shows two pillars, Siphon radius, Shutterback’s first angle, Caller and its source, two side mouths, a separate far-wall hatch, R36’s iris and the two clamp approaches. The side mouths support a proposed 80–150 bodies at once. The first phase asks whether to take the exposed selector, longer fan flank or first clamp. The second combines the special pressures and optional Caller stage. The third uses earned quiet to equalise by selector or two clamps and hand-cycle the iris. R36’s side openings to R37/R38 are walking passages and are never sealed; opening R39/R40 creates no crowd.
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**Failure and return.** An occupied control or displacement loses only its current unfinished stage. A cut alarm lead, sealed mouth and completed clamp remain. Death does not reveal the vault's new route. Survivor rules and the short-crossing limit apply as elsewhere; this is never an escort or mandatory ending gate.
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A developed build may strip the exposed Shutterback and release into the packed hall, even allowing the Caller’s second stage on purpose. No counter-spawn or protection answers that efficiency. The low-power route seals the nearest mouth, baits Siphon’s hose into a pillar, crosses during full retraction, cuts the alarm and uses the longer flank to complete one clamp before withdrawing. Gauges and two clamps keep language, equipment and survivors optional.
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## Representative revisit — the sampling loop after storage is understood
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For the one mapped route where nearer local sources are permanently sealed, R35’s two side-mouth volumes have a proposed conserved total of **220–370 bodies**. Of that, 40–60 stand in two R17 bands, 20–30—including R20’s existing Siphon—occupy the R20-to-R25 approach, 80–130 form the two R25 bands including one Bellback, and 80–150 remain at R35 at once. The 140–220 migrants walk the current R35→R27→R26→R25→R20→R17 route before departure and are deducted once. Re-entry or reaching R35 does not refill it. The far-wall Caller stage is separate. A living return can initialize a fresh allocation next expedition if this arrangement and its sources remain viable; death may break the unjoined R27→R35 route. Other sealed arrangements still need mapping.
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On the first objective 6 visit, the four-space Sensor/Projector plus Manual/Barrier rig can barely hold the long hall's crowd, so the player seals one ward door early, baits the newly seen Glass Siphon hose into a pillar and works the Flanker pack along the wall. They close one Breath Bank cap, free and carry the installed Dynamo, and leave the regulator core because carrying capacity or oxygen margin is exhausted. The cap and removed-Dynamo state persist; the current route is recorded, not promised.
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## One revisit: the sampling loop becomes fuel
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After objective 9 exposes a Capacitor and objective 2's coupler permits the 6 A configuration, the player returns if the sampling loop is actually reachable. They can take the **6 C/6 A Counterwall**: Manual → Barrier, Dynamo locally clamped to that frame → Capacitor, then built-in manual release → Arc. Siphon hose and Presser/Flanker strikes caught on the faced Barrier are separate external waves, each able to add one local contribution; at a visible Arc target the player manually clears the packed lane. That turns the dense crowd from a reason to leave into fuel for a protected valve window. With one 2 C canister, only 2 C remain for the regulator core and none for other loot.
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On the first objective 6 visit, the four-space Sensor/Projector plus Manual/Barrier rig can barely hold the long hall. The player seals one ward door, baits the newly seen Siphon hose into a pillar, handles the Flanker pack along the wall and closes one Breath Bank cap. They free and carry the installed Dynamo but leave the regulator core because oxygen, the part and the core cannot all fit. The cap and missing fixture part remain changed; the route record is useful but not promised after death.
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The same equipment budget offers a lateral choice: the **6 C/6 A Salvage Breacher** uses Manual → Cycler → Projector, a Dynamo clamp on Projector's physical-output feed and Capacitor storage. It can buy a faster opening without waiting for enemy strikes, but the chosen material also occupies carrying space until consumed and permanently loses return value. The player must inspect Projector target/readiness before pressing; receivers still check independently, and a Cycler spend is not refunded after a downstream refusal. Consuming the material may free the capacity needed for the regulator, but that is an explicit cost.
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After finding Capacitor and opening the six-space ship configuration, the player can return—if the sampling loop is actually reachable—with **Counterwall, 6 C / 6 A**: Manual → Barrier, Dynamo clamped to that frame → Capacitor, then the Capacitor’s built-in manual release → Arc. Each Siphon hose, Presser strike or Flanker strike caught on the faced Barrier is its own external wave and may supply one local Dynamo contribution. At a visible valid Arc target, the player releases stored charge through the packed lane. The horde has changed from a reason to flee into fuel for a protected valve window. One two-unit canister leaves only two carrying units for the regulator and nothing else.
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Either build may complete the remaining hand-cycle and pick up the regulator. A living return brings the carried manifest home and preserves completed seals and work. The next expedition renews combat and growth through viable sources; the hall's earned quiet belongs to the current expedition. Death after the pickup commits returns every still-carried part, canister and regulator once and leaves consumed Cycler material spent and completed cap/work intact. Death before pickup does not collect it. The journal freezes the warning and lets the player compare records; changing links there follows [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules), while tether breaks, attacks, caps and pickups still need running time.
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The lateral **Salvage Breacher, 6 C / 6 A** uses Manual → Cycler → Projector, with Dynamo on Projector’s physical-output feed and Capacitor storage. It can buy an opening without waiting for strikes, but the selected salvage occupies space until used and permanently loses its return value. Protected or invalid material refuses before consumption. Once Cycler commits a valid sample, a later Projector refusal, occlusion or miss does not refund it. Consumption may make room for the regulator; that is the cost, not a free inventory trick.
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## Coverage rationale and cheaper alternative
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Either build can finish the hand-cycle and take the regulator. A living return brings the carried manifest home and preserves seals and completed work; the next expedition renews viable pressure and growth. Death after committed pickup returns every still-carried object once, while spent Cycler material remains spent. Death before pickup leaves the regulator there. The journal can pause the warning for record and link comparison, but tether breaks, attacks, cap work and pickup still require running time.
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The six ordinary roles cover direct lane, side angle, waking the next source, ranged line, occupied control and temporary sight. The three specials escalate body displacement, mobile occlusion and local oxygen drain. Each pressure changes movement or a decision made while the game runs; none exists only as a health shape, steals property, demands one part or targets the player's successful build. Veilbearer earns its apparent overlap by teaching a limited stationary occlusion before Shutterback's mobile group shelter; if that distinction is not readable, the ordinary role should be cut rather than multiplied.
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## Cheaper roster alternative
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**Genuinely cheaper alternative: 6 ordinary / 2 special / 1 setpiece.** Retain all six ordinary roles plus Bellback and Glass Siphon. Omit Shutterback from the SMALL roster while keeping its source proposal for later consideration; Veilbearer carries the simpler sight-pressure function. Convert Balance Gallery from a major setpiece to an ordinary Bellback/mechanism placement, and retain Receiver Vault as the only setpiece using Bellback/Siphon rather than a fan. Its threshold must stage Bellback alone across one fixed pillar for a full warning-start lock, release and recovery before the Siphon line can overlap; both creatures are visibly present and no spawn is triggered. This self-contained rehearsal means the cheaper vault does not depend on objective 8, but it consumes part of the layout saving. The alternative still removes one special adaptation and one bespoke staged layout, at the cost of less dynamic angular cover, spectacle and escalation.
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The current full proposal is six ordinary roles, three specials and two setpieces. Its strongest cheaper alternative keeps all six ordinary roles plus Bellback and Glass Siphon, removes Shutterback from this roster, and uses only Receiver Vault as a major setpiece. Veilbearer carries the simpler sight-pressure role. Balance Gallery becomes an ordinary Bellback/mechanism placement. Receiver Vault uses Bellback and Siphon instead of the moving fan, but its threshold must show one complete Bellback warning, locked release and recovery across fixed cover before Siphon can overlap. That self-contained rehearsal avoids requiring objective 8 first.
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The setpieces reuse objective 8's Phase/Breath work and objective 11's pressure iris; their host geometry and the thirteen-major-mechanism allocation are supplied by [Station Room And Module Inventory](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Station%20Room%20And%20Module%20Inventory) and [Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Encounter%20And%20Mechanism%20Placement%20Inventory).
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The alternative removes one special adaptation and one bespoke staged layout, at the cost of less dynamic angular cover, spectacle and escalation. It does not delete any ordinary movement/cover baseline or add a creature. If Veilbearer and Shutterback do not read as meaningfully different in the full roster, cutting Shutterback is preferable to multiplying occlusion variants.
## Open questions
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- Target priority, manual overrides and accessibility assistance (interface decisions).
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- Limits on multiple ordinary outputs, owned by Build Rules.
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- Exact warning and recovery timings, and exact tuning.
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- Damage, health, displacement, crowd scale and on-screen effect density.
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- Line, cover and camera rules.
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- Barrier eligibility.
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- Siphon drain presentation.
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- The Veil/Shutter visibility distinction.
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- Origin evidence and cast interpretations.
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- Surviving-enemy holds on local withdrawal within an ongoing expedition, and fresh-population placement around permanent work on the next expedition; Combat Rules owns the detailed renewal and growth proposals.
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- Exact room geometry and shift-valid access.
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- Exhaustive mechanism-instance geometry, population, cue, state and staging variants; full setpiece layout variants; role-specific presentation equivalents; combined encounter/mechanism cases.
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- Performance and effect density.
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- Acquisition and capacity values.
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- Objective 12's joining mechanism and connection rule are not yet selected.
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- The final game band is unselected; TARGET/STRETCH roles and variants are unestimated.
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- Whether the full roster or the cheaper 6 ordinary / 2 special / 1 setpiece alternative is used.
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- Whether a developed build actually suffices at the setpieces is a later balance question.
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- These rules are untested; names, origins, frequencies, population sizes, timings, damage, health and placements are proposals.
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- Target priority, manual overrides and aiming assistance.
- Whether Veilbearer’s fixed sheet and Shutterback’s moving shelter remain distinct in a crowded fight.
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- Origin interpretations; the visible human/older layers settle neither hospital nor alien history.
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- Ongoing-expedition pressure after a quiet window and renewal around every possible shifted route and permanent seal.
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- Exact ordinary-growth cadence and major events outside the current Balance Gallery and moving scan examples; rewards for sealing early.
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- Exact room geometry, source capacity and performance for the 80–150 simultaneous setpieces and the conditional 220–370 conserved allocation.
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- Objective 12’s joining mechanism and connection rule.
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- Whether the full roster or the six-ordinary/two-special/one-setpiece alternative is used.
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- Whether developed builds reliably leave enough crowd for their payoff and whether the baseline routes remain readable; both require later authorized validation.
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- These rules are untested; names, origins, frequencies, populations, timings, health, damage, placements and mechanism counts are proposals.
