The 9th Squad

Lore & Background

Within the Tower's vast organizational hierarchy, Squads sit below the more celebrated figures—the Shadows, the Regulars, the Base's inner circle—and above the ordinary climbers scrambling for a single step upward. Each numbered Squad carries a specific operational charter, and the 9th Squad is one such unit tasked with maintaining order within its designated scope of authority. This means overseeing the conduct of trials, intervening when climbers attempt to cheat or endanger one another, and reporting anomalies upward through the Tower's chain of command.

What makes the Squad system compelling to readers is how it humanizes the Tower. The Tower is often presented as an almost mythic, incomprehensible structure, but the existence of numbered squads with duties, ranks, and internal politics grounds it in something almost bureaucratic. The 9th Squad, like its numbered siblings, is staffed by climbers who have earned their positions through their own ascent. They are not gods or monsters; they are professionals, and like any professional body, they carry their own loyalties, rivalries, and ambitions that can complicate their official duties.

The 9th Squad also serves a narrative function: it is the kind of authority that a protagonist or their allies must navigate, appease, or outmaneuver. Encounters with Squad members often reveal the Tower's rules from the enforcer's perspective, giving readers insight into what is permitted, what is punished, and where the grey areas lie. In a story where the Tower's true nature is shrouded in mystery, the Squads are one of the few windows into its day-to-day governance.

In Their Own Story

The corridor on that floor smelled of chalk dust and old iron. Baam had been climbing for hours, his fingers raw, when the sound of synchronized footsteps echoed from the far end of the passage. Nine figures emerged in formation, their uniforms marked with a small insignia he had never seen before—a stylized numeral wrapped in a ring. The lead figure stopped ten paces away, tilted her head, and spoke in a flat, administrative tone: "Climber, you are three minutes past the trial's closing threshold. State your name and your intent, or be escorted to the holding alcove."

Behind her, the other eight stood perfectly still, hands at their sides, watching him with the patient attention of people who had done this a hundred times. Baam's jaw tightened. He had expected monsters, or riddles, or a trial of strength. He had not expected a paperwork problem.

"I'm still climbing," he said.

The lead figure's expression did not change. "Then you are in violation of the floor's temporal clause, Article Seven. I will log it. You have one attempt to resolve your position before I am required to flag your record."

She turned, and the nine of them walked on, their footsteps falling in perfect unison, leaving behind only the faint impression of authority in the empty corridor.

Reader's Guide

The 9th Squad functions as a formal enforcement and regulatory unit within the Tower's internal governance. Its philosophy, like that of other numbered Squads, is one of structured order: the Tower's trials and rules exist to be followed, and the Squad's purpose is to ensure they are. Where the Tower's higher echelons (Shadows, Regulars, the Base) operate on principle and power, the Squads operate on procedure and presence.

Known members and a confirmed leader for the 9th Squad are not extensively detailed in the widely-known portions of the story, so specific rosters remain a point of fan discussion. What is clear is that Squad members are climbers in their own right—individuals who earned their posts through ascent and are bound by the same Tower laws they enforce.

The 9th Squad's relationship to the Tower is that of a subordinate organ: it answers to higher authority, reports anomalies, and acts within a defined charter. Its relationship to rival or parallel factions (other Squads, independent climbing parties, the Shadow Corps) is one of cautious professionalism—cooperation when duties overlap, friction when jurisdictions blur.

Key story arcs involving the 9th Squad tend to center on moments where a climber's actions cross a regulatory line, forcing a confrontation with institutional authority. These arcs highlight the tension between the Tower's rigid rules and the unpredictable, often heroic, choices its climbers make.

Did You Know?

• The Tower's Squad system implies a layered bureaucracy: numbered units handle enforcement while higher bodies (Shadows, Regulars, the Base) handle governance, creating a chain of command that mirrors real-world instituti
• Squad members are themselves climbers who earned their positions, meaning their personal ambitions and loyalties can sometimes complicate their official duties—a recurring source of tension in the story.
• The existence of multiple numbered Squads suggests the Tower's floors are not isolated islands but part of a coordinated system where rules, trials, and enforcement are managed across the structure as a whole.
• For readers, encounters with Squad members often serve as a narrative device to reveal the Tower's rules from the 'enforcer's side,' giving insight into what is permitted, what is punished, and where the grey areas lie.