Bridge lights snap back to life across the Amber Wing, but the calm dies fast. A sleek corporate vessel peels out of cloaking on the forward display, its targeting lattice painting the scout frigate with hard red geometry.
The Captain
Amber Wing, stand down and prepare for inspection. Those military couplings are corporate inventory. Open your cargo hold now.
The demand hangs over the bridge like a bill coming due. The frigate is running, but only barely, and the salvage in your hold could keep you moving or buy you a brief, ugly peace.
Lahani
They know exactly what we pulled. This is not random.
Kiryati
If we give up the couplings, we lose our edge. If we refuse, we may lose the ship.
Ranuko
I can keep the systems stable, but I cannot spare much power. Choose fast.
The corporate ship holds position, weapons steady, waiting for a reply that decides whether the Amber Wing pays in salvage, in debt, or in bloodless surrender.
✓ Quest Accepted
Avoid corporate inspection
“I know the salvage laws, and that they know we have this makes me think these are pirates, not corp.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
The corporate transponder signature is too clean, too loud. Real inspectors do not mask their approach this badly.
Nahuli
Nahuli calls it out as a bluff, saying the ship reads more like pirates than corporate security.
The Captain
Then you are observant. We are not here for paperwork.
The red lattice on the display tightens anyway, and the bluff becomes a threat with teeth.
Lahani
They want the couplings. Or the whole hold.
Ranuko
If they are pirates, they will not stop at a lawful demand.
The bridge hum drops a note as the corporate vessel adjusts position, waiting to see whether the Amber Wing yields cargo, power, or initiative.
“Kiryati, you are up. Take Ranuko with you. Time for some electronic warfare to cover the soldier.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Hacking, rolled +2)
Nahuli fingers the comms lattice and reroutes it through the ship's own noise floor. The bridge fills with a thin veil of false carrier chatter, just enough to smear the targeting solution.
Kiryati
Copy that. Moving now.
Kiryati grabs Ranuko by the shoulder and pulls him toward the hatch, using the deadened signal burst as cover.
Ranuko
I am with you. Just keep the line muddy.
On the screen, the corporate lock trembles and widens by a fraction, losing confidence in the Amber Wing's exact posture.
The Captain
Hmm. Someone knows how to hide a moving ship.
The powered maintenance spine icon flickers across the diagnostic stack, then vanishes under the spoofed returns. The bridge holds its breath, waiting for the patrol's next read.
“I focus on defense with Lahani while Kiryati and Ranuko do some damage.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Engineering, rolled -1)
The spoofed carrier wash steadies into a clean, ugly shield. The patrol’s lock jitters, then slides off the Amber Wing’s true profile.
Lahani leans over the helm, reading the false returns as they bloom across the display. The ship holds its lane, hidden in static and dead air.
Kiryati drives Ranuko across the bridge threshold, then turns back toward the main compartment with force enough to make the hatch shudder.
The Captain
There. Lost them. Keep the interference up.
A bright targeting line snaps wide on the forward screen and skates past open space, missing the ship by a clean margin.
On a side monitor, the powered maintenance spine flickers under the noise floor, then disappears again behind Nahuli’s scramble.
Ranuko
If they get a fresh read, they will not hesitate. Do we keep masking, or push for an exit burn?
Quest Complete
Avoid corporate inspection
Skill Upgrade: Security Mediocre