Three peaceful hours pass in the greenhouse recess. Artificial dawn cycles across the planters, and Nahuli and Lahani emerge with pleasantly ruffled feathers, reluctant to leave the quiet.
Lahani
I am documenting this as an excellent delay, with no route margins and no maintenance alarms involved.
They ride the lift down together through the rotating spine. Ranuko remains in the review alcove below, guarding the recovered route cases and their repair records.
The navigation room receives them with cool displays and steady ventilation. Amber Wing’s secured departure profile is loaded beside the clean outbound slot, while the repaired package waits in verified sections.
Lahani
The slot is still clean. We need only confirm the load profile, return geometry, and coordination with the waystation before departure.
Ranuko sends the review logs from the adjacent alcove, matching each route gap to its documented uncertainty. No external access appears, and the ship’s reserves remain untouched.
Lahani
We can start the readiness review now, or take one last quiet minute before the machinery claims us again.
“Where are we heading this time though? I can ask the other crew if they found anything while we were enjoying the plants.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Nahuli
Where are we heading this time? I can ask the others if they found anything while we were enjoying the plants.
Nahuli opens the crew channel from the navigation room. The greenhouse’s warm scent still clings to his feathers as the readiness displays glow around him.
Ranuko
I found no new route beyond the repaired package. The verified destination remains the next Rim survey system, using the clean outbound slot and preserved return geometry.
Lahani
That is where we are heading, then. We will follow the verified route, not the uncertain extension, and keep the abort lane under manual control.
Ranuko
The review alcove records are complete. I also confirmed the waystation has not altered our load profile or touched the recovered cases.
The route display highlights the Rim system ahead, its relay handshake and return burn marked in green. No additional findings compete with the departure plan.
Lahani
We can finish the readiness review and depart when the slot opens. After three quiet hours, a disciplined survey sounds like an excellent destination.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the next Rim survey system
“"Make sure everyone is on board before we leave this time. Lahani, finish the paperwork. I will go find the others."”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -1)
Nahuli
Make sure everyone is on board before we leave this time. Lahani, finish the paperwork. I will go find the others.
Lahani
Understood. I will complete the waystation forms and hold the clean slot while you gather the crew.
Nahuli moves through Amber Wing’s compartments, checking the medical bay, laboratory, and engineering stations. Riyanu and Nikayo answer their checks from the refitted workspaces.
Riyanu
Medical bay is secured, supplies are aboard, and I am accounted for. Nothing remains in the waystation berth.
Nikayo
Laboratory is secured as well. The survey instruments and sample storage are aboard, with no loose equipment waiting outside.
Nahuli reaches the review alcove and finds Ranuko sealing the recovered route cases. The engineer carries both cases aboard and confirms every occupied station through the crew channel.
Ranuko
All present crew are aboard and accounted for. Lahani’s paperwork is complete, and Amber Wing is ready for the verified departure.
“That leaves Kiryati. Why does everyone keep forgetting about our gunner?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Nahuli
That leaves Kiryati. Why does everyone keep forgetting about our gunner?
The crew channel falls silent for one sharp second. Lahani stops at the navigation console, while Ranuko checks the manifest against the Avalon personnel record.
Lahani
You are right. Kiryati is still on Avalon, finishing emitter three’s calibration. We treated her absence as expected instead of confirming it.
Ranuko opens the last authenticated berth report. Kiryati’s emitter logs show a completed calibration cycle, a secured workshop, and a local departure request waiting for transport clearance.
Kiryati
Amber Wing, I am here. Calibration is complete, and the emitter is secured. I was waiting for someone to remember the gunner before departure.
Lahani
The mistake is ours. I will notify the waystation and revise the manifest. We will not leave without you.
Lahani submits the corrected manifest and requests Kiryati’s transfer from Avalon. The clean slot remains held, while Ranuko marks the crew roster complete only after her confirmed arrival.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring Kiryati aboard
“IT has been weeks! Why have you not joined us yet?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Nahuli
It has been weeks. Why have you not joined us yet?
The crew channel carries Nahuli’s challenge across the berth. Kiryati answers from Avalon, her signal clear but still routed through the station relay.
Kiryati
Because emitter three was not truly finished when the first calibration cycle ended. I stayed to complete the thermal checks, isolate the targeting controls, and document every result.
A completed calibration archive opens beside Kiryati’s voice. Its timestamps span the weeks, followed by a local transport request that received no response.
Kiryati
Once the tests passed, Avalon held my transfer for workshop clearance and export paperwork. I should have contacted you directly instead of assuming the berth office would notify Amber Wing.
Kiryati
The clearance is approved now. I am bringing the final emitter records and boarding transport. You will not leave without your gunner again.
“"Even after the emitters were installed? I can understand being careful, but I checked over all four of those personally." "The output on those is well within our legal limits." "Get on the first shuttle here, we leave once you arrive"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -3)
Nahuli
Even after the emitters were installed? I understand being careful, but I personally checked all four. Their output is well within our legal limits. Take the first shuttle here. We leave once you arrive.
Kiryati receives the message through Avalon’s authenticated relay. The shuttle board assigns her the first available departure, charging Amber Wing an expedited transfer fee against its docking allowance.
Kiryati
Understood. Your inspections and the legal output records are on file. I am boarding the first shuttle now, with the final calibration archive secured.
Lahani updates Amber Wing’s manifest and holds the clean departure slot. Ranuko records the transfer fee and keeps the route cases sealed, while the ship remains ready.
Kiryati
The shuttle has cleared Avalon traffic. I will be aboard before the slot opens, and emitter three’s controls will remain isolated until you approve the final handover.
On the berth display, Kiryati’s shuttle appears as a green inbound marker. Its arrival time is confirmed, and Amber Wing’s departure remains secured for the verified route.
Lahani
She is coming, and the slot is held. Once Kiryati steps aboard, we can close the berth and leave with the full crew.
“Start working on the navigation route with Lahani”
SUCCESS (Legendary Engineering, rolled -2)
Nahuli joins Lahani at the navigation console as Amber Wing’s verified route expands across the display. Green vectors mark the outbound lane, relay handshake, and protected return burn.
Lahani
Let us work through it together. I will hold the manual plot while you confirm every margin against the repaired records.
Nahuli compares the route package with the ship’s live attitude model, checking fuel reserve, relay timing, and the abort geometry without activating the uncertain extension.
Nahuli
The return burn remains inside the verified reserve.
A marginal timing discrepancy appears in the relay handshake. Nahuli and Lahani resolve it by spending one sealed navigation diagnostic cartridge to validate the corrected synchronization table.
Lahani
The route is clean now. The cartridge cost us a spare, but the outbound and return timings agree across the ship and waystation records.
Lahani saves the jointly verified manual route as primary and marks the extension inactive. The diagnostic expense shifts their departure confirmation by twelve minutes, while the clean slot remains secured.
+ New Item Acquired
Sealed Archive Case
“Has Kiryati's shuttle reached Amber Wing?”
YES, AND MORE (VeryLikely, rolled 10)
Twelve minutes later, Avalon traffic control confirms Kiryati’s shuttle has docked with Amber Wing. The corrected manifest updates from provisional to complete.
Kiryati
I am aboard. Emitter three’s final records are secured, and the workshop released the remaining calibration data with my clearance.
Kiryati enters the navigation room carrying a sealed archive case. Her arrival beacon also includes Avalon’s current emitter compliance certificate, extending Amber Wing’s legal operating window beyond the planned departure.
Lahani
Good timing. The route is verified, the return burn is protected, and we can close the berth as soon as you are settled.
Kiryati
Then I will secure the case and inspect my local controls. Emitter three remains isolated until the handover is complete.
Ranuko locks Kiryati’s archive into the ship’s sealed records while Riyanu and Nikayo confirm her boarding from their stations. No crew member remains on Avalon.
Lahani
Full crew aboard. Amber Wing is cleared to depart for the verified Rim system.
“I close the berth and initiate departure”
SUCCESS (Legendary Engineering, rolled +1)
Nahuli closes Amber Wing’s berth through the authenticated station control. The docking clamps release, the pressure seal confirms, and the waystation recedes beyond the canopy.
Lahani brings the ship onto the verified manual departure vector. Fuel, relay timing, and the protected return burn remain inside their confirmed margins.
Kiryati
Emitter three is secured and isolated. The other three remain cold, with local interlocks ready if we need them.
Ranuko
The recovered route package is sealed, and the uncertain extension is inactive. Nothing is requesting access to Amber Wing’s systems.
Lahani
Departure is clean. We are leaving the waystation and entering the verified corridor now.
Amber Wing clears the traffic envelope, synchronizes with the relay, and begins its controlled burn toward the next Rim system. Avalon’s lights diminish behind them.
Lahani
Full crew aboard, reserves protected, and our return lane preserved. Now we can explore what lies ahead on our own terms.
Quest Complete
Bring Kiryati aboard
New Gift: Adaptive Crew Coordination