Amber Wing stabilizes beyond the debris band. The damaged survey rack is isolated, the protected return vector remains open, and all five crew members hold their stations aboard.
One inactive transponder emits a brief identification pulse. A patched salvage cutter emerges behind the inner edge of the field, drive cold and weapons unlit.
Veyra Sorn
Amber Wing, this is Veyra Sorn. The coherent lattice fragment is registered salvage under Rim recovery law. Disclose everything your sensors recorded.
Veyra appears on the comm display, a middle-aged woman with a narrow build, weathered brown skin, cropped silver hair, and a rust-red pressure coat marked by repair patches.
Lahani
Her cutter is running dark except for life support. No weapons illumination, but she came in through the debris field without broadcasting an approach.
Ranuko
The identification pulse came from one of the inactive transponders. It may be a registry handshake, or a trigger intended to announce our position.
Veyra Sorn
I am not asking for your route or your ship’s systems. I want the field model, the fragment’s readings, and confirmation that you will not interfere with my recovery.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether Veyra Sorn's salvage claim is legitimate
“I inspect Veyra's salvage registration and compare it with the transponder pulse.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Computers, rolled +0)
Nahuli routes Veyra’s registration packet and the transponder pulse into a read-only comparison buffer, keeping both isolated from navigation, weapons, and the protected return vector.
The registration carries a valid Rim salvage certificate issued to Veyra Sorn’s cutter. Its serial matches the cutter’s hull telemetry and the transponder’s stored registry identity.
The pulse is not an independent distress call. It is a dormant recovery handshake, triggered when Veyra’s cutter entered the field, announcing the registered claim without opening a command channel.
Ranuko
The identities match cleanly. The transponder announced her certificate, but it did not transmit our position beyond the local debris field.
Lahani
That makes the approach legitimate, at least by the records. I am still keeping our return lane and manual controls protected.
Veyra Sorn
You have confirmed my registration, then. The pulse was only a recovery marker. Your field model remains yours, but the fragment is registered to my claim.
The comparison completes without contamination. Veyra’s claim is authentic and limited to the lattice fragment, while Amber Wing’s readings, route, and systems remain under crew control.
Secure an agreement with Veyra Sorn over the field model
Quest Complete
Determine whether Veyra Sorn's salvage claim is legitimate