At the next day’s rendezvous, SecUnit and Mensah approach the GrayCris survey base in a hopper after using a rebuilt drone to scout it. Mensah opens by warning GrayCris that PreservationAux has hidden evidence and found the missing map sections, raising the stakes. When SecUnit walks in alone, GrayCris tries to freeze its governor module and retake control, but the attempt fails because SecUnit’s governor is already broken. SecUnit uses that surprise to bluff as a true rogue and offers a deal: information in exchange for being taken off-planet as supposedly destroyed inventory.

To make the lie convincing and force GrayCris to react, SecUnit demands proof that GrayCris has removed it from PreservationAux inventory and restarted the hacked HubSystem. Once GrayCris complies enough to restore Hub access, SecUnit claims that Gurathin is on his way to manually launch GrayCris’s beacon. GrayCris panics because any incoming ship would expose their crimes before they can exploit the planet. The bluff works too well, however, when Blue Leader insists Mensah come too instead of letting the GrayCris party leave alone.

Blue Leader sends an overridden DeltFall SecUnit to accompany SecUnit back to the hopper. Assuming the unit has orders to kill it, SecUnit ambushes and destroys the DeltFall unit in the trees. SecUnit then improvises with Mensah by swapping key armor pieces and logos so SecUnit can impersonate the destroyed unit while Mensah pretends to be a captive. They return to the GrayCris group just as a hopper lands, and Mensah agrees to go with them to the beacon site so the larger plan can continue.

During the flight, Mensah probes GrayCris and confirms the motive behind the murders: the unmapped regions contain buried remnants of a past civilization that distort mapping systems. If the discovery becomes known, the planet will be placed under interdict for archeological study, blocking the illegal excavation profits GrayCris wants. Meanwhile, Gurathin and Pin-Lee are sneaking toward the GrayCris habitat to use the existing hack and trigger the beacon for real. At the remote launch site, SecUnit realizes the group is standing dangerously close to the cheap emergency beacon and that the delay has made the timing far riskier.

GrayCris finally recognizes the deception, and the remaining DeltFall SecUnit opens fire on SecUnit. As the beacon begins launching, SecUnit returns fire, then abandons the fight to save Mensah, tackling her off the plateau and shielding her as the launch blast tears through the area. Both survive the fall but are badly hurt, and SecUnit repeatedly drops offline. Gurathin and Pin-Lee reach them, and when SecUnit automatically tells them to discard it, Mensah angrily refuses. In broken flashes, SecUnit later realizes the team has made it onto the pickup transport safely, and lets itself shut down.