Sensors flag a change in Lydia's vitals as a Corrupt Ascendant appears. Crew debate: cultivators here are ruthless and one officer requests authorization for an orbital strike. They're briefed on local tiers—Astral, Nascent, Divinity—mapped to military equivalents; at least one enemy is Astral, a top-tier master. They learn captains don't register and their own combat is 'roughly equivalent to an adult rooster.' With their firepower likely inadequate and the Void Fiend unreliable, one member vows, "I'll steal the relic and run," leaving bombardment or escape undecided.