The scorched relay fuse remains on the console beside sealed evidence packets. Gremlin and Alexei stand in the relay chamber with Orda’s restrained lead guard, while officers remain behind to preserve the airship and its records.
Alexei
Urgent notice. The convoy is departing now, and checkpoint reports show a customs directive using Orda’s phrase.
Alexei’s console displays the suspicious instruction: “Polite passage, private authority.” Its signature resembles Orda’s authorization layer, but the transmission originates from a checkpoint ahead of the lawful route.
Alexei
Carry the evidence packets to Bulwark’s secure intake route. The lead guard comes as a witnessing authority. Keep the custody chain visible and make every checkpoint confirm with me.
Orda's lead guard
I can identify Orda’s phrase and command formatting, but I cannot certify who transmitted this directive without seeing its source.
Alexei assigns two officers to the sealed packets and keeps the lead guard restrained between them. The remaining team stays at the airship, protecting the relay chamber and detained guards.
Alexei
The convoy is ready to move. We have one chance to intercept the false instruction before it turns lawful custody into Orda’s private seizure.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose who transmitted the false customs directive
“I quickly repair my relay before setting out”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -2)
Gremlin retrieves the scorched isolation fuse from the relay chamber console, then opens the broadcast relay with his portable laboratory tools while Alexei’s officers hold the custody line.
He strips away the burned casing, bridges the damaged contact with a salvaged conductive clip, and recalibrates the relay’s isolation threshold against the convoy directive.
Gremlin
The fuse is expendable. The relay’s timing circuit is not.
The repaired relay restarts, cleanly separating Alexei’s authenticated commands from the forged checkpoint transmission. Its casing now bears a visible repair seam, and the final spare conductive clip is consumed.
Alexei
Signal restored. I have the convoy, the checkpoint, and the false directive isolated. Your repair holds, but the relay is no longer factory-safe.
Alexei pushes the convoy alert through the restored channel, ordering every checkpoint to halt the suspicious directive and confirm directly with her console. The evidence packets remain sealed.
Alexei
We can move. Bulwark’s secure intake route is waiting, and Orda’s counterfeit authority is now preserved before it can redirect the convoy.
“I quickly repair my relay before setting out”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -3)
“I quickly repair my relay before setting out”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -1)
Gremlin tightens the conductive bridge, reseats the relay’s timing circuit, and runs a rapid diagnostic through the repaired isolation path. Every channel separates cleanly.
The broadcast relay locks onto Alexei’s authenticated console and rejects the counterfeit checkpoint directive, preserving its source signature, timestamp, and transmission route.
Alexei
Repair verified. The relay is stable enough for transit, and the false directive is preserved as evidence rather than treated as an instruction.
Alexei’s officers lift the sealed evidence packets into a protected carrier. The restrained lead guard remains between them, watching the repaired relay’s diagnostic lights.
Orda's lead guard
That rejection pattern is genuine. Orda’s system would have accepted the phrase. Someone copied her authority layer and changed the route.
Alexei marks the convoy’s lawful path in green and the forged checkpoint in red. The route to Bulwark’s secure intake opens under direct confirmation from her console.
Alexei
We are moving now. Keep the relay visible, keep the packets sealed, and let the counterfeit command lead us to whoever transmitted it.
“Ask the lead guard to identify Orda’s transmission habits”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Gremlin
Identify Orda’s transmission habits. Tell me how she normally sends directives, how she authenticates them, and what this counterfeit message changed.
The lead guard studies the red-marked checkpoint route, then the repaired relay. Alexei keeps the custody recorder trained on the exchange while officers hold the sealed packets steady.
Orda's lead guard
Orda favors short directives sent in three stages: a private preamble, a phrase challenge, then a route authorization. Her messages originate from the command deck or its registered relay.
Orda's lead guard
She repeats the phrase only after the recipient answers with a rotating harbor code. The counterfeit used her phrase but skipped that challenge and came from a checkpoint transmitter.
Alexei captures the guard’s account beside the preserved transmission. The habits provide a clean distinction between Orda’s genuine authority and the copied layer.
Orda's lead guard
Orda also embeds a delayed acknowledgment in every legitimate order. This directive demanded immediate passage and offered no return confirmation. It was designed to look urgent, not authentic.
Alexei
That gives us the signature we need. We can identify the originating checkpoint, reject the counterfeit, and preserve the transmission as deliberate impersonation.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the checkpoint to acknowledge Alexei’s authority
“I’ll send Alexei’s authenticated challenge to the originating checkpoint.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -2)
Gremlin routes Alexei’s authenticated challenge through the repaired broadcast relay, matching the rotating harbor code and demanding the originating checkpoint answer under verified custody.
The relay transmits the challenge cleanly. Its isolation circuit holds, separating Alexei’s authority from the counterfeit directive and preserving the outgoing packet’s timestamp and signature.
Alexei
Challenge sent. The checkpoint must answer my rotating code before any route authorization can stand.
A sharp thermal warning flashes across the relay. The final salvaged conductive clip overheats and fuses into the timing contact, leaving the repair permanent and consuming the last replacement part.
Orda's lead guard
That is Orda’s challenge format. Whoever copied her phrase will have to answer without her private harbor code.
The originating checkpoint receives Alexei’s authenticated challenge and returns a traceable acknowledgment packet. Its transmitter identity is now preserved beside the counterfeit order.
Alexei
We have contact and custody. The checkpoint cannot claim it never received the challenge, and its answer will identify who authorized the transmission.
“I trace the checkpoint’s transmitter identity”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -1)
Gremlin feeds the checkpoint’s acknowledgment packet through the repaired broadcast relay, separating transmitter identity from copied authority markers and preserving every timestamp.
His scanners correlate signal timing, hardware fingerprint, harbor-code response, and routing metadata. The trace resolves to Checkpoint Seven’s customs transmitter, with a maintenance console as its originating interface.
Gremlin
The transmitter is local, and the authorization was injected through its maintenance console.
A sealed forensic copy records the console identity, operator session, and transmission path. The counterfeit directive came from Checkpoint Seven, not Orda’s command deck or registered relay.
Alexei
Checkpoint Seven is identified and preserved. I am locking its console remotely and sending officers with the convoy’s custody team.
Orda's lead guard
That is not one of Orda’s registered relays. Someone used a checkpoint console to imitate her authority and force the route change.
Alexei’s console receives the complete trace and hash-matched evidence packet. The convoy remains on its lawful route while Checkpoint Seven becomes the next secured scene.
Quest Complete
Expose who transmitted the false customs directive
New Gift: Tamper-Proof Validation
Quest Complete
Get the checkpoint to acknowledge Alexei’s authority
Skill Upgrade: Intimidation Mediocre→Fair