The Lattice

The Academy doesn't train pilots. It sorts them.

Milo Vance arrives with two hours of sim time and a Bronze band that marks him as expendable. The rubric says he's *Uncontrolled* - too much instinct, not enough obedience. One more strike and he's gone.

Cassian Vale arrives with a Gold band and a call sign that follows him like a title: Atlas. The rubric says he's the Standard - the pilot others should become. He's never questioned it.

Then the Academy sends them both into the Fringe, where the Lattice lies and compliance gets you killed.

Out there, the scrap-pile kid sees what the golden boy can't.

And the system that built them both is about to find out what happens when the wrong pilot survives.