Injuries and permadeath
Zero health is not immediate death. It creates a Downed state and an Injury, turning a tactical mistake into a campaign cost that the Medbay must resolve.
Downed is a warning, not a reset
A rallied Operator can return to the current fight, but the Injury remains after the mission. Do not read the restored unit as fully recovered; the campaign now has a treatment problem.
Choose time or credits at the Medbay
A normal Medbay bed treats an Injury over one Cycle. The Bacta Tank can treat immediately, and both routes consume Credits. The correct choice depends on the next mission timer, roster depth, and the Operator's importance to the squad.
Hawks follows a separate rule
Hawks must join story missions. If Hawks dies in battle, the mission fails and restarts rather than recording the commander as a normal permanent casualty.
Permadeath is a campaign setting
Permadeath is enabled by default but can be disabled. Turning it off changes the long-term consequence, not the immediate value of health, positioning, recovery, and Medbay time.