Juno has been working toward this for three sessions. The crew gathers in the cargo hold.
The stasis field releases with a sound like pressure equalising in a deep-sea dive. The container opens. Inside:
Somebody from 200 years ago knew this moment would come and left a note for whoever arrived.
Sable reads the full archive. Study: 6. Map the Lattice — 6/6. COMPLETE. She knows where all five nodes are, what they do, and why the Ur sealed the lattice. She knows about the Hantu gate in full. She knows what "something responds" means in the survey team's language. She goes very quiet for about two minutes.
Then: "We need to go to Meridian."
Before they can leave, the Scarlet Wolves make their move.
Two ships. A boarding vessel and a blocker positioned across the jump lane. The boarding vessel hails:
The crew makes no response. They start the jump drive.
Plan: Bold. Detail: Rack burns for the jump point while the crew holds the ship.
Engagement roll: 2d → 4/5. Risky position. The blocker has already closed half the gap.
Rack (Pilot, desperate): 5. He threads through the Wolves' firing arc. The ship takes a glancing hit. Ship hull: █░░░ (1 damage). Engines fluctuate but hold.
Cutter goes to the guns. Wreck: 6. Strips the blocker's maneuvering array. It can still fire but can't course-correct. The gap to the jump lane reopens.
Sable attuned the jump drive. This is non-standard. She pushes: Attune (push, takes 2 stress): 6. The drive charges 40% faster than rated. The Way-lines around the ship snap taut like strings.
Juno seals the cargo hold around the container. Rig: 5. Consequence: she has to leave the hold unsealed on her side. If they take another hit back there, it's on her.
Boarding vessel closes to 200 meters. One operative magnetically attached to the Vagrant Star's hull.
Rack jumps.
The operative goes with them into hyperspace. He's alive, suited, attached to the exterior hull, and now in a very bad situation.
Fortune roll: 1d → 5. He survives the jump but his magnetic clamp fails on exit. The crew finds him drifting 300 meters off the bow when they drop into Brekk space.
Cutter: "Well."
They bring him aboard. His name is Tal. He's a Wolves contractor, not core crew. He's angry, then assesses the situation, then becomes pragmatic with the speed of someone who's been in worse spots.
Juno patches his suit breach. Patch Up: 6. He lives. He owes her one. He doesn't like owing people.
Tal tells them what he knows about the contract: Maron filed it two weeks after the crew refused the Vos job. Private funds. The Wolves got a fake transponder sig, the Battro file, and a physical description. The container was listed as "historical artifact of significant monetary value."
Juno asks if he knew it was a lattice node.
Tal: "A what?"
He genuinely doesn't know.
The crew lets him call his Wolves handler. They listen. The handler is concerned about liability, not the mission. Tal's contract is officially suspended pending crew safety review. He's stuck on the Vagrant Star until they reach a station.
He spends the transit teaching Cutter a card game he claims he invented. He's lying about inventing it. Cutter knows and doesn't say so.
Payoff: 0. Upkeep: -2. Net: 0 cred. Broke again.
Heat — Brekk (new): Loud escape, weapons fire. 4 heat. Brekk: ████░░░░ (4/8).
Ship damage: Hull at 1/4. Needs repair before another combat. Long-term project opens: Ship Repair — 4-clock.
Sable — documents everything from the container archive. Begins drafting what she'll tell the others about the Hantu gate. She hasn't found the words yet. Study: 4/5. Consequence: she tries to tell Juno and stops twice. The information has weight she's not ready to share.
Rack — side job (Pilot, Brekk courier run). Pilot: 6. +2 cred. Cred: 2.
Juno — talks to Vess. Not a roll. Just a scene. Vess is quiet about the container opening. When Juno asks what it was like to be near the stasis field releasing, Vess says: "Like hearing someone call my name from a long way off. I didn't answer. I'm not sure I should."
Cutter — side job (Brekk, Scoundrel). Sway: 5. +1 cred. Cred: 3.