The Pyramids arrived and the City's response was to keep doing what the City does — patrol, complete objectives, maintain the power levels that the coming confrontation will require. The Crucible in this context is not training for a hypothetical conflict. It is the active development of the specific capabilities that surviving the Pyramids will require. The distinction matters. Practice implies a future application that may or may not arrive. Preparation implies the arrival is certain and the only variable is readiness.