M06 — Harbor

Field	Data
Date	May 2029
Location	Open ocean on the transit route to ISN Albatross
Weather	Scattered cumulus; afternoon
POV / aircraft	Marsh ("Six") / F/A-18E Super Hornet
Wingmen	Over, Nine, AME
Protected asset	Carrier onboard delivery aircraft carrying Yekaterina and Irina Belyaeva
Enemy	POSTHUMUS at fuel rung 2
Type	Transport escort; first direct engagement
Time limit	Transport must reach Albatross (about 14 minutes)

Related: Yekaterina Belyaeva · Irina Belyaeva · Jonah Marsh · MINOZIS Encounter Design

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1. Narrative Purpose

Winter King's logic reaches the family. The first direct engagement with POSTHUMUS teaches the discharge window. The mission lands Marsh's wound (a voice asking for help he cannot give in time) and gives the residual class its third and most painful instance.

2. Briefing

Katya and Irina Belyaeva are flying to Albatross to work directly with the squadron on the airframe and the voice. Their carrier onboard delivery aircraft departs a shore base this afternoon. You will meet it at the halfway point and escort it in.

Both of them score on the directive-integrity criterion. The cell assesses the probability of an attempt as low: the aircraft prefers attacks that look like accidents, and an escorted transport is not an accident.

In other news: the IUN has demanded inspection of Rocky Island and is moving peacekeepers to Expo City. Expect crowded frequencies.

3. Objectives

Type	Objective
Primary	The transport reaches Albatross
Secondary	Damage POSTHUMUS inside a discharge window
Secondary	Keep the transport's instruments honest (cross-check its reported position)
Hidden	Keep Marsh's Load below the critical threshold

4. Flow

Phase 1: The meet. Formation join on the transport. Irina is chatty on the open channel; Katya is quiet. Marsh jokes with Irina. Asano needles him for it on the private channel.

Phase 2: The lie. The transport's navigation starts drifting. Its pilot reports a position 20 km from where the escort can see it. If the player fails to correct it (cross-check), the transport turns onto a false heading. The aircraft is herding it.

Phase 3: The voice. On the open channel, in Anton's voice:

"Katya, the kettle."

Katya says nothing. Irina, through tight breathing, starts grading aloud for the pilots:

IRINA: "That's not him. That's a recording. Kitchen, 2024."

A second fragment:

"Ira..."

IRINA: "That one... I don't know."

Phase 4: Contact. POSTHUMUS appears out of the sun at rung 2: intermittent plasma glow, Mach 3-class. It discharges its emitter at the escort. The player's HUD goes white for 1–2 seconds, then the discharge-window indicator lights (2–5 seconds). The player must turn into the aircraft and fire inside the window. The second discharge comes about a minute later; the aircraft will not fire a third.

Phase 5: The pass on the transport. Between discharges, the aircraft makes a cannon pass on the transport. Marsh's Load spikes as a frightened voice in the transport (the loadmaster) calls for help. The player's controls carry Marsh's Load as input lag.

At the moment of release, the cannon fires late: a Type 1 delay of about a second. Most of the burst falls behind the transport. The transport is damaged and losing hydraulic pressure.

Phase 6: Recovery. The aircraft breaks off after taking hits in the second window. The flight escorts the damaged transport to a rough trap on Albatross.

5. Key Radio

SIX: "Hey, Irina, did they tell you the food on the boat is terr—" (the joke stops; it does not resume for the rest of the mission)

IRINA (after landing, open): "Six. Thank you." SIX: "...Yeah."

6. Systems Showcased

System	How
Discharge window	Phase 4
Two-discharge limit	Phase 4
Instrument lies on a protected asset	Phase 2
Operator Pressure (Marsh)	Phase 5
Ghost transmission grading	Phase 3
Type 1 delay as a visible event	Phase 5

7. Failure Conditions

• Transport destroyed.
• Transport crosses a false heading for more than 90 seconds (it flies into the aircraft's ambush geometry and is lost).

8. Debrief and Circle

On deck, Katya walks to the transport's damaged tail and looks at the holes. She says the burst was late. Then she asks the cell why.

In the circle, Marsh does not joke. He says his grandmother used to tell him that the engine always tells you before it quits, if you are listening. Asano does not tease him.

After the circle, Katya asks to meet Vance. They speak briefly. Vance does not accept what Katya tells her.

9. Ledger Entries

Entry	Grade change
EMP discharge window	High → Confirmed
Two-discharge behavior	Medium → High
Residual class: Harbor delay	New, Confirmed (event); Speculative (meaning)
Borrowed-voice playback	New, High