The rack room drops into pitch black. Seolin 2 answers with a buried pulse, contact codes folding through the bulkheads in silent sigils, hidden from anything outside the hull.
The Priest snaps into motion at the far side of the room, carving a white arc of ward-light over the threshold. The Weapons Master drops to one knee at the vault housing, hands already inside the misaligned components.
The Weapons Master
Hold it there. I am opening the seam from inside.
Sabien braces against the blackened frame as the seal shudders. The Borrower lies still at his feet, while the trapped shadow tightens into a thin, listening knot beyond the line.
The Priest
All ranks, ready positions. Preserve the line. No sound outside this room.
The room fills with pressure, not wind, but occult force, as the ship’s battery charge climbs. White light and black absence grind against each other at the seam, and the vault begins to yield by inches.
Sabien can see it now, the breach is being made on purpose, and whatever comes through will be the thing he must contain.
✓ Quest Accepted
Brace the core correctly