The capsule technician remains inside the isolated receiving chamber, gripping the edge of their sealed suit as Liyanu completes the medical scan. The locked capsule sits beside them, tethered and quiet.
Liyanu
Your scan is stable enough for the next assessment. I need you still, and I need the suit sealed until I clear the boundary.
The Capsule Technician
I am not leaving this unit. Whoever altered my mission records may still be listening, and exposure outside this chamber would put me in their reach.
Liyanu pauses with one hand above the scanner controls. Behind the chamber glass, the technician’s posture stays rigid, but their grip tightens whenever the sealed capsule telemetry scrolls past.
The Capsule Technician
Preserve the telemetry under your crew’s control first. Then I will explain what was changed, and why the records were made to point somewhere else.
Nahuli
Liyanu decides whether you are medically cleared. I decide how we preserve evidence. We can do both without opening the chamber.
The receiving unit remains locked beside the capsule. Liyanu keeps the medical boundary active while Nahuli routes a read-only copy of the telemetry toward quarantine, leaving the technician’s explanation—and Lahani’s response—open.
− Story Quest Removed
Determine whether the rogue planet's beacon is redirecting pilots
Liyanu's turn“"Exposure to our air would kill you quickly. How did you even drift so far from the main routes?"”
SUCCESS (Great Medicine, rolled +0)
Nahuli
Exposure to our air would kill you quickly. How did you even drift so far from the main routes?
The Medical Isolation Unit samples the suit atmosphere, blood gases, and pressure response through sealed sensors. Its filtered receiving chamber keeps the technician’s air separate while Liyanu completes the assessment.
The Capsule Technician
I was assigned to map a maintenance relay beyond the established lanes. The route package was altered after departure, and the capsule followed corrections that led away from the main traffic.
The scan confirms severe incompatibility with Amber Wing’s atmosphere, but the technician’s sealed suit remains stable. Liyanu’s measurements also show dehydration and scrubber stress, not an acute contaminant exposure.
The Capsule Technician
I disconnected the guidance processor when the corrections became impossible. After that, I drifted on manual attitude control, using weak stellar references until your ship found me.
The Medical Isolation Unit finishes its cross-check and marks the technician stable for continued sealed treatment. Their account matches the capsule’s telemetry: a diverted mission, manual survival, and no safe path back to the routes.
Liyanu's turn“You can check the data with our navigator. Our ship doesn't have suitable space for other races.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Nahuli
You cannot enter our air safely. You can check the data with our navigator, Lahani, while we keep you inside this unit.
The Medical Isolation Unit keeps the technician’s atmosphere sealed, filters the receiving chamber, and compares pressure and medical readings without exposing Amber Wing’s air. Liyanu routes the capsule telemetry toward Lahani’s navigation console.
The Capsule Technician
I can show the route record, but not release the mission key. It was altered once already, and I cannot tell which copy is safe.
The request for cooperation fails to open the technician’s records. Instead, their capsule automatically seals the mission key behind a local lock, leaving only a damaged route trace available for review.
Lahani
I can compare the trace with our flight history, but I cannot certify a route from incomplete data. Keep the key sealed.
Nahuli
Then we review the trace under crew control. No mission key, no external guidance, and no change to Amber Wing’s course.
The Medical Isolation Unit maintains the sealed transfer boundary as Lahani receives the incomplete trace. The technician remains stable, but the locked key means route verification must proceed from evidence they cannot fully provide.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what altered the mission records
Liyanu's turn“The human is far from their territory?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 33)
Iven Rusk
My home territory is far beyond this system. The altered route pushed me across several relay regions before the guidance processor failed, and I had no reliable way to turn back.
The incomplete trace places the capsule well outside its registered service network. Its last confirmed relay lies behind multiple weak-coverage sectors, while the route ahead bends toward Amber Wing’s isolated survey region.
Lahani
That distance explains the missing confirmations. You were not merely diverted from a nearby lane. You were carried beyond the territory that could have supported your return.
Iven Rusk
Yes. The route crossed into regions my vessel was never meant to reach. I recognized no local authority, relay standard, or rescue coverage after the second transfer.
Nahuli studies the trace without opening the mission key. The capsule is not an intruder from a neighboring operation, but a stranded survey craft whose support network is far behind it.
Nahuli
Then we treat your records as evidence, not authority. You are far from home, but Amber Wing will not surrender its course or systems to get you back.
Iven Rusk
I understand. If you keep me sealed and preserve the trace, I can help identify which parts of the route were genuine. That may be the only way anyone finds my territory again.
Liyanu's turn“Tend to lahani”
SUCCESS (Great Medicine, rolled -3)
Liyanu brings Lahani into the Medical Isolation Unit’s receiving chamber, keeping Iven Rusk’s sealed atmosphere separate while the unit monitors pressure, oxygen, and contamination boundaries.
The Emergency Med-Kit supplies a compact scan patch, thermal wrap, and stabilizing gel. Liyanu compares the shoulder’s motion readings with Lahani’s baseline before supporting the strained wing root.
Lahani
That correction pulled harder than I expected. I can still hold the orbit, but the joint needs attention.
Liyanu applies the gel and thermal wrap, then guides Lahani through a controlled range-of-motion check. The Medical Isolation Unit confirms stable circulation and no structural tear.
The treatment succeeds: the sharp strain eases, and Lahani’s shoulder regains safe working movement. The kit’s single-use stabilizing gel cartridge is spent and logged for replacement.
Lahani
Better. I can pilot without forcing the injured side, and I will keep the orbit conservative until the soreness settles.
Liyanu leaves the wrap secured and returns Lahani to the station-keeping console. The Medical Isolation Unit keeps its boundary active around Iven Rusk, while Amber Wing’s course remains under Lahani’s control.