Sion reaches into the warped service panel as the cargo hold light steadies into a hard red blink. The emitter capsule screams, and the nav console starts dragging the ship toward an unscheduled deep-space rendezvous.
Jorvik rattles inside his containment box, eye wide, while Abby strains at her cell door, both of them jolted by the ship's sudden turn. The automated pilot keeps overriding manual drift corrections.
Sion
The capsule is feeding the ship false route data.
A deck alarm cuts in. The transmitter's whine climbs through the hull plating, and the floor shivers under Sion's boots as the fighter tries to commit to the new vector.
Jorvik
Cut it out fast. If that thing finishes syncing, it can drag us anywhere.
Abby Stone
If this ship jumps while I am locked up, I am blaming you, officer.
Sion gets one clean look at the exposed emitter, its casing patched into the cargo hold systems like a parasite. Neutralize it now, or lose control of the ship and the prisoners with it.
“Abby has her arms locked to the wall, high above her head, inside her cell. She has a metallic gag in her mouth and metal blind over her eyes. Jorvik sits inside a metallic box with a glass window. Sion studies the panel.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Sion squares up to the warped panel and studies the capsule’s patchwork feed. The routing splice is crude, external, and powered through the cargo hold relay.
Sion
It is not inside the nav lock. It is riding the relay line.
A thin diagnostic glow leaks from the seam, showing a simple bypass path, if he can cut the relay current before the capsule finishes its handshake.
Jorvik
That is the leash point. Sever power to the hold relay, not the console.
Abby Stone
Do it now, officer. I dislike being a passenger in my own ship.
The red blink keeps time with the hull vibration, and the nav console continues to drift the ship toward the illegal rendezvous.
Sion has the weak point now, but the relay still hums under strain, waiting for a cut.
✓ Quest Accepted
Neutralize the transmitter
“Sion attempts to neutralize the transmitter.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Sion reaches into the warped panel and kills the relay feed. The diagnostic seam snaps dark, and the capsule’s steady glow breaks into a dead flicker.
The ship answers at once, its pull toward the unauthorized rendezvous easing as the nav drift stutters out of alignment.
Jorvik
The leash is cut. The hold relay just went cold.
Abby Stone
Good. Now keep it that way.
The red emergency light keeps flashing over the exposed housing, but the transmitted signal no longer rides the line. The console noise drops under the hull vibration.
Sion has the ship back under his hand, for the moment. A fresh systems alarm starts to build from the nav core, demanding a choice.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the transmitter