Coolant beads along the coupling and trembles in the engineering bay's vibration. Beneath the fresh upgrade casing, the hairline scuff catches blue diagnostic light.
Ranuko
I found a buried military diagnostic tag. It was masked inside the relay firmware.
Ranuko projects the recovered data above the open panel. A coordinate string locks onto a nearby graveyard, marking a derelict warship.
Lahani
The tag is pointing at that wreck, and the upgrade is still drawing unstable power. We have one safe jump, maybe. After that, the shim is mandatory.
The coupling pulses. For one instant, the military diagnostic overlays a second layer beneath the coordinates, a command-routing pattern keyed to the Amber Wing's hidden systems.
Ranuko
That is not a salvage beacon. It is a handoff protocol. Someone expects this ship to reach the warship, and the upgrade may be the reason.
✓ Quest Accepted
Make the military upgrade safe
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the derelict warship
“The old soldier knows more than I do.”
Nahuli
The old soldier knows more than I do.
Ranuko
Enough to recognize a route when someone hides it inside a repair. Not enough to know who sent it.
Ranuko lowers the projection, leaving the coupling's scuff and the quiet ship vibration between you.
“"Ranuko, go pull the old schematics. Go see what we have to work with. Ask Riyani to help." I go back to securing the coupling.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Engineering, rolled +0)
Nahuli
Ranuko, pull the old schematics. See what we have to work with. Ask Riyani to help.
Nahuli returns to the coupling, tightening the final fastener and seating the military relay against its patched mount.
The hairline scuff remains visible, but the housing holds firm under the test vibration. The repair is secure.
Ranuko
Understood. I will pull the archived plans and get Riyani on the comparison.
Ranuko turns toward the engineering terminal. Its display wakes reluctantly, scattering old diagnostic fragments across the deck.
Lahani
The route is viable, but the jump will draw directly from the unstable upgrade. One safe burn, then the shim becomes mandatory.
The terminal resolves the warship's coordinates beside a single navigation control: commit the jump or hold position.
“Unstable how?”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +4)
Nahuli
Unstable how?
Nahuli pivots from the coupling toward the terminal, torque tool still in hand. The request pulls the diagnostic beneath its warning layer.
Ranuko
The relay is not failing uniformly. Its military control lattice is overdriving the Amber Wing's older power bus during the jump window.
Ranuko
That means the burn is usable once. Afterward, thermal drift will push the relay out of phase with the drive unless we install the shim.
Lahani
So the ship can reach the warship, but not come back cleanly.
Ranuko
Correct. There is more. The diagnostic includes a fabrication profile for the shim, built from standard coupling stock. We can make it aboard the Amber Wing.
The profile unfolds beside the coordinates, listing tolerances, material substitutions, and a maintenance access route into the relay housing. The jump remains limited, but the repair is no longer a blind design problem.
Ranuko
You found the flaw before it found us. Do you want me to start the shim pattern while Lahani holds the route?
“"In other words, a non issue given that this always happens in the debris fields. I think you are looking at the wrong thing." Recalibrate the scanners to search for hazards and explosives.”
SUCCESS (Superb Computers, rolled -2)
Nahuli
In other words, this is a non-issue. Debris fields always do this. I think you're looking at the wrong thing.
Nahuli sets the torque tool beside the coupling and reroutes the engineering terminal's scanner routines. He recalibrates them for pressure anomalies, thermal blooms, power cells, and explosive signatures.
Ranuko
That is a broader search than the diagnostic requires.
The scanner accepts the new parameters. A hazard overlay spreads across the relay housing, the jump corridor, and the Amber Wing's forward sensor cone.
Lahani
It found something. Not in the relay. Ahead of us, hidden inside the warship's approach vector.
The recalibration succeeds, but the old scanner buffer overheats during the final pass. A sharp electrical snap scorches the terminal edge, and the hazard overlay resolves into several dormant explosive signatures near the derelict warship.
Ranuko
Your non-issue has a minefield around it. Do we plot a blind jump through the marked lane, or spend our one safe burn on a closer scan?
“"Its a military ship. That we have mines to deal with is no surprise. Lahani, thats your job to get us close enough."”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Nahuli
It is a military ship. Mines are no surprise. Lahani, get us close enough.
Lahani
Then I will make the approach a navigation problem, not a guessing game.
Lahani takes the route controls and folds the hazard markers into the Amber Wing's flight model. The ship angles toward the derelict warship, threading the cleared margins between dormant explosive signatures.
Ranuko
The military relay is pulling harder against the drive than before. Thermal drift has already started.
Therefore Lahani trims the burn into short, precise corrections. The Amber Wing reaches the near edge of the minefield, close enough for the derelict's hull geometry to resolve across the forward sensors.
The warship hangs ahead, scarred and powerless, while dormant mines divide the final approach into narrow lanes. Behind Nahuli, the relay's hairline scuff catches a pulse of warning light.
Lahani
We are in position. I can bring us to the hull, but the next burn will push the upgrade toward its thermal limit. Do we scan the lanes first, or commit to the docking run?
“I have Ranuko fabricate the thermal shim”
SUCCESS (Legendary Engineering, rolled -2)
Nahuli
Have Ranuko fabricate the thermal shim.
Nahuli routes the archived stock profile from the relay diagnostic into the fabrication queue, then strips a matching heat-resistant plate from the repair stores.
Ranuko
I can build it from this. Keep the drive load steady while I cut.
Ranuko clamps the plate into the bench cutter and follows the profile by hand. The machine whines through the engineering bay, throwing a brief fan of bright filings.
The cut completes cleanly. Ranuko drills the mounting holes, bonds the thermal mesh, and lifts a finished shim from the cooling tray.
Ranuko
Fabricated. It matches the relay housing and will take the drift load once installed.
The cost is immediate: the repair stores lose their only heat-resistant plate, and the cutter's noise wakes a dormant maintenance alarm. Lahani's route display flashes as the warship's approach lanes recalculate.
Lahani
The shim is ready, but the approach window is moving. Do we install it before the docking burn, or hold it for the return?
“I have Lahani hold position while Ranuko installs it”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +0)
Nahuli
Hold position, Lahani. Ranuko installs the shim now.
Lahani
Holding position. The approach lanes are stable for the moment.
The Amber Wing settles into a precise hover at the minefield's near edge. Nahuli's command keeps the docking burn paused and the drive load level.
Ranuko
Keep it steady. I'm seating the thermal mesh against the relay housing.
Ranuko lowers the fabricated shim into place, fastens each mounting point, and tightens the final contact. The relay's thermal drift drops into the service range.
Ranuko
Installed. The upgrade is usable for the approach, but the drive still cannot promise a clean return.
The route display resolves the derelict warship as a reachable salvage lead. Beneath it, a return estimate pulses amber while the hairline scuff on the coupling catches the diagnostic light.
Quest Complete
Make the military upgrade safe
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb