Honor-Steel Survey, Pass-Forge

Job: escort a Karthunai forge-law metallurgist to Pass-Forge and run an honor-steel / forge-law alloy survey on posted temper coupons — five hops out past Karth, onto the same cold far edge of the frost republic the resupply lanes use. This is catalog work on the tin: pull core samples, zero the spectral rigs, log your instrument serials, compare micro-hardness traces against the forge-master's mark on file, deliver the packet back to Khesret. No fireworks. No arena glory. Just numbers that matter if a soldier downstream ever asks whether a lot stayed honest.

Briefing: Auditor Thora Writ-Anvil posts from the Spire cold-berth freight hall and assigns Metallurgist Kael Hard-Spark to ride your hull. You dock at Pass-Forge Forge-Berth, cuff through to the assay lab, and run the posted coupon set under foreman sight — nine routine honor-steel lots, blind assay, chain-of-custody logged line by line. Kael walks the protocol like liturgy: don't touch the frosted vault viewport bare-handed, pull coupons in order, don't get clever with the seal reader. The lab pays you in stamps, not speeches. Hand Thora a packet she can file without flinching and the contract closes.

Clock: soft ten-day window — assay windows are tight and Karthunai forge-law voids sloppy runs. Terms: ₡13,000 gross, 10% desk fee, Rank 1 minimum. Honest money for honest numbers — and an auditor who hires outsiders because forge nepotism would bury anything interesting. Mind the instruments. Mind the chain. One seal on the writ might not be as republic-clean as the wax says.