The maintenance route opens into a broad command gallery. Dead consoles line both walls, while tactical displays flicker awake above a central access rail.
ORB-01 hovers over the rail, blue ring reflected in the polished tracks. The Scavenger Leader and the Pack emerge behind them, keeping a careful distance.
The Scavenger Leader
We came with you. The others stayed near the junction, guarding the way back.
The decrypted command channel expands across the nearest console. A defensive sensor array appears in segmented outlines, covering every approach to the core chamber.
A black authorization field interrupts the display. Machine-script resolves into a single request: RECOGNIZED COMMAND PURPOSE REQUIRED.
The Scavenger Pack
It wants a reason before it obeys. What kind of reason does a dead war machine accept?
The Scavenger Leader
Choose carefully, machine. If that array wakes hostile, this gallery becomes a trap.