Forge Resupply, Pass-Forge

Job: haul one forge-consignment from Khesret out to the Karthunai forge at Pass-Forge — five hops, deep past Karth, to the cold far edge of the frost republic. Cargo's raw armor-alloy stock and a case of etching dies, cold tolerances, writ to the forge-master out there. It's a long, quiet run to somewhere almost nobody goes, moving the honest material that Karthun plate is made from. Good money for a hull that can sit a five-hop lane and land in a paint-stripping wind without whining about it.

Briefing: Broker Torvald Ledger-Mane books you out of his cold-berth office under the Spire rings and walks the manifest like a smith checking a weld. You ride the corridor spine — Sol, Alpha Centauri, Lacera, Karth — then one more hop into the frost to Threnn, where the forge sits dug into a ridge against a season-long night. Set down on the flats, take the cargo to the intake desk, let Forge-Master Brunna Frost-Braid read your writ and your metal. Her stamp closes the contract. Then you've stood on a world the frost republic barely bothers to flag — call that the bonus.

Clock: soft. It's a resupply, not a crisis; ten days out is fine, cold tolerances logged. Terms: ₡14,000 gross, 10% desk fee, Rank 1 minimum. Honest work, honest metal, a long look at the edge of the map — and a dock that measures you by whether you brought exactly what the writ says.