Nahuli leaves the engineering access only after Ranuko seats the physical interlock and confirms the reserve capacitor is isolated from navigation and the protected burn.
Ranuko
Limiter secured. The capacitor is holding charge without heat rise, and the repair record is sealed against automatic rewrites.
Nahuli crosses to the bridge, where Lahani keeps Amber Wing outside the debris cycle. Veyra and Meral remain clear in their separate tracking boxes.
Lahani
The next navpoint is open. I can advance on manual thrust, preserve the return burn, and avoid the formation’s next alignment.
Nikayo
I am building a conservative survey profile from the recovered calibration data. Passive ranging only, with no approach closer than the verified field boundary.
Kiryati
Passive tracking remains clean. The debris, Veyra’s cutter, and Meral’s skiff are separated, and the emitters stay ready without arming.
Amber Wing’s displays settle into a cautious departure plan. The repaired reserve is available again, but every route constraint remains visible as Lahani waits for Nahuli’s next decision.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confirm the conservative survey plan is safe to execute
“I advance manually toward the next navpoint”
SUCCESS (Legendary Piloting, rolled -1)
Lahani transfers manual thrust authority to Nahuli’s controls. Amber Wing eases forward beyond the debris cycle, keeping Veyra’s cutter and Meral’s skiff in separate tracking boxes.
Nahuli
The navpoint remains clear, and the return burn is protected.
Nahuli trims the course by hand, matching the verified route while avoiding the formation’s projected alignment. The repaired reserve capacitor holds steady throughout the burn.
Lahani
Manual correction is clean. We are clear of the debris cycle and entering the next navpoint approach.
Ranuko
Reserve charge remains stable, with no thermal rise. Navigation and the protected burn are still isolated as planned.
Nikayo
The field boundary is receding behind us. I am preserving the passive survey profile and recording the transition.
Amber Wing reaches the next navpoint under manual control. The route ahead is stable, the return vector remains open, and the crew’s cautious survey plan is ready to continue.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what crossed the dark body's nightside
“Is the next survey target free of hidden traffic?”
NO, BUT (Even, rolled 58)
The next survey target resolves beyond the navpoint: a dark, airless body wrapped in weak thermal scatter. Amber Wing’s passive sweep finds no clear approach corridor before a narrow reflection flashes across the scopes.
Nikayo
Negative. The target is not free of hidden traffic. Something crossed the far limb without broadcasting propulsion, then vanished against the body’s thermal shadow.
Lahani arrests the approach before Amber Wing reaches the verified field boundary. A second sweep misses the contact entirely, leaving only a displaced dust plume and a fading electromagnetic notch.
Lahani
We missed the safe survey window. I am holding outside the target’s influence and preserving the return route.
Ranuko
The contact was not a ship signature, but it disturbed the target’s local dust environment. I can use that disturbance to reconstruct its crossing path.
Nikayo’s passive profile reveals a second usable fact: the target’s nightside shadow contains a narrow gravitational trough, broad enough for a later approach from below the apparent traffic plane.
Kiryati
No weapons, no beacon response, and no second contact. We did not reach the target, but we have a safer approach line if that crossing repeats.
“I model a passive approach through the nightside gravitational trough.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Piloting, rolled -1)
Nahuli feeds the target’s mass estimate, thermal map, dust plume, and reconstructed crossing path into a sealed navigation model. He excludes every active transmission and propulsion source.
The model traces a passive descent beneath the apparent traffic plane, using the nightside gravitational trough to bend Amber Wing’s observation path without entering the target’s stronger influence.
Ranuko
The trajectory is stable. It requires no beacon correction, no external timing packet, and leaves the protected return burn untouched.
Nahuli tests the approach against the displaced dust plume. The predicted path crosses its disturbance cleanly, allowing the contact’s passage to be sampled without broadcasting Amber Wing’s position.
Nikayo
The trough gives us a quiet observation line. I can resolve the thermal shadow and compare it with the crossing signature from below.
Lahani
I have the passive profile loaded as a later approach option. Manual control, abort authority, and the return route remain preserved.
The completed model marks a safe nightside survey corridor and a precise observation station beneath the traffic plane. Amber Wing holds beyond the boundary, with the approach ready for a clean future window.
Quest Complete
Confirm the conservative survey plan is safe to execute
Skill Upgrade: Security Fair→Good