- Introduce a NEUTRAL-ONLY encounter path: when escorts are live with zero hostiles, the combat seam now carries a `neutral` flag so the scene can swap to a dedicated neutral hum instead of the combat shuffle.
- Fire two new pilot comms once per neutral encounter — `neutralScan` (pilot on screen) and `neutralScanComplete` (first pilot break-off) — via a new `onComm` seam in CombatSystem; hostile-only beats stay silent during neutral encounters.
- Add `neutral` music context to data/music.json with its own shuffle playlist, load it in GameScene, and resume the correct context on wake.
- Ship a `?neutral` dev boot (two pilots, 8 s escort window) for testing the full beat at home, plus tests covering the comm seam, mixed→neutral re-resolution, and data validation.
- The last escort leaving the screen (encounter over without a kill) now calls `_setActive()`, which flips `active` to false and emits `onActiveChange`.
- Previously only kills triggered the flip, so GameScene's deck/soundtrack swap (`_setCombatBar`) never ran on a break-off ending.
- Add a test asserting the `true→false` active flip when the last escort is culled off-screen.
- New EncounterDirector (js/combat/Encounters.js): pure, data-driven clock that rolls pirate / neutral / mixed encounters in neutral non-home systems on a ~45–90s interval at 50–60% chance, one at a time with a 30–60s cooldown, never during a live wave run or on a downed player.
- Neutral ally ships (js/combat/NeutralShip.js) on spritesheet frames 20–27: escort the player for a per-ship 10–15s window, engage the nearest pirate in mixed fights, then break off and fly off-screen; player-safe by construction (never targeted or damaged by ally bolts/seekers).
- Pirate targeting generalized so hostiles can draw aggro onto escorts when the player is out of range; escort and pirate bolts/missiles collide with each other but not the player.
- Group size scales with combat level (1–2 low → 4–5 high, bands in data/combat.json); encounter hostiles are one-shots so the fight ends when the sky clears.
- New 'volley' weapon pattern (wide staggered-speed fan) and owner-tagged bolts/missiles for ally vs enemy routing in Weapons.js.
- Neutral roster config + encounters section added to data/combat.json; EnemyTypes gains neutralTypeConfig/Ids/SheetList.
- Tests: dev/encounters.test.mjs (cadence, gate, weights, size bands), dev/neutral.test.mjs (roster, escort AI, targeting, no friendly fire), plus combat/xp test updates; CDP probes and encounter-hud-check for in-browser HUD verification.
Brian Fertig