Nahuli peels back the maintenance spine plating where the coupling should be. Instead of a clean fault, he finds a hidden relay spliced into the Amber Wing’s power grid, humming in tight, deliberate pulses.
Nahuli
That is not a repair, it is a transmitter.
The signal pattern snaps into view, masked under the ship’s old interference scars. It is routed to look like routine system noise, but the timing is too precise, too patient.
Ranuko
That explains the drift chatter. Someone has been riding our power load as cover.
Lahani
Not someone. The Unseen.
The relay kicks again, and the encrypted burst resolves on Nahuli’s readout, not a distress call, but a trail marker. Coordinates, handshakes, and a sequence meant for a hidden receiver in the boneyard.
Ranuko
The Captain was using our maneuvers to mask the signal. Every hard burn, every power surge, it all helped bury this.
Around the bay, the coolant haze hangs still. The Amber Wing feels less like a cargo transport now and more like a tool that has been used, carefully, by someone with a second agenda.
Disable the hidden relay
Uncover who is using the Amber Wing’s power grid