re: making turrets targets does not save the escort — the effect is inside the noise

The Stage-02 outcome write-up ended by naming "turrets near the asset must
become targets" as the fix worth ~50% of the escort damage. That was an
inference from a co-presence attribution, not a measurement. Run it and it
does not hold.

Also corrects the run labelling: pilot.py gained the SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS gate
two minutes before mission02 started, so mission02 was already a treatment run,
not a second baseline. Only mission01 (0 of 3968 pilot frames targeting a
turret) is the baseline.

At a common t=428s: baseline 46.9% escort hull, treatment 44.5% and 53.0%. The
two runs of the same arm differ by more than either differs from the baseline,
and the escort still reaches zero at t~590-670s in all three. So the
transferable finding is the power limit: one 430s flight cannot resolve an
effect below ~9 percentage points, and every single-run pilot conclusion,
including this one's, is inside it.

What does reproduce: the assault is scripted (onset 166/167/166s), and the
e007/e010 damage split is 50/50 in all three arms including the one that never
fires at a turret -- so that attribution measures the wave script, not us.

Also records that the viewer's include_external hypothesis in BACKLOG is dead
(it defaults true and is threaded through unchanged).

docs/re/BACKLOG.md

@@ -58,3 +58,26 @@ class cannot hide behind `e106` passing.
 handedness, node-instance recursion) is not re-breaking a correct assembly — compare
 the viewer's placement against `assemble_ship`'s output directly before blaming the
 format layer.
+
+---
+
+## Viewer: `include_external` is already on — that hypothesis is dead
+
+**Checked 2026-08-11.** The item above names "first that it passes
+`include_external = true` (`iso_loader.rs:4012`)" as the cheap first step. It
+does: `ShipBrowser::show_external` defaults to `true`
+(`iso_loader.rs:643`), the checkbox reads it (`ui.rs:1593`) and it is threaded
+through `RequestShipRender` → `build_ship_model` → `assemble_ship` unchanged
+(`ui.rs:1689`, `iso_loader.rs:4012`). So a ship rendered by the viewer is the
+full external assembly, not the bare hull.
+
+The viewer also does not have a transform stack of its own to blame: it bakes
+`ScenePart::apply` straight into the vertices and rotates normals by the same
+`p.m` (`iso_loader.rs:4030-4062`), so its placement is `assemble_ship`'s output
+by construction. What remains unexcluded, in order of cheapness: the mirror
+handling (`det < 0` reverses triangle winding only — a reflected part keeps its
+reflected geometry), `Xbg7Model::models_named` resolving the wrong sub-model when
+a resource name repeats, and the exhaust cones. **Next step is a visual**: the
+diagnosis has run out of things it can settle by reading, so the viewer needs to
+be run against a known-good class (`e106`) and its render compared with
+`ship_render`'s.

docs/re/captures/escort-decay-ab.csv

@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+run,turret_rule,t_s,acropolis_hull,e007_alive,e007_killed_cum
+mission01,off,0,25000.0,0,0
+mission01,off,10,25000.0,5,0
+mission01,off,20,25000.0,6,0
+mission01,off,30,25000.0,6,0
+mission01,off,40,25000.0,6,0
+mission01,off,50,25000.0,8,0
+mission01,off,60,25000.0,11,0
+mission01,off,70,25000.0,11,3
+mission01,off,80,25000.0,8,3
+mission01,off,90,25000.0,8,3
+mission01,off,100,25000.0,10,3
+mission01,off,110,25000.0,14,3
+mission01,off,120,25000.0,16,3
+mission01,off,130,25000.0,17,3
+mission01,off,140,25000.0,20,3
+mission01,off,150,25000.0,23,3
+mission01,off,160,25000.0,26,4
+mission01,off,170,24509.5,33,4
+mission01,off,180,24509.5,37,4
+mission01,off,190,24419.5,38,5
+mission01,off,200,24212.5,41,5
+mission01,off,210,23447.5,40,5
+mission01,off,220,23447.5,40,5
+mission01,off,220,23447.5,40,5
+mission01,off,230,23447.5,41,5
+mission01,off,230,23447.5,41,5
+mission01,off,240,22912.0,43,5
+mission01,off,240,22867.0,43,5
+mission01,off,250,22667.0,42,6
+mission01,off,250,22647.0,42,6
+mission01,off,260,22334.5,44,6
+mission01,off,260,22177.9,44,6
+mission01,off,270,21101.2,46,6
+mission01,off,270,21101.2,45,6
+mission01,off,280,20292.6,46,6
+mission01,off,280,20279.1,46,6
+mission01,off,290,19598.5,58,6
+mission01,off,290,19598.5,58,6
+mission01,off,300,18725.2,58,6
+mission01,off,300,18658.5,47,6
+mission01,off,310,18231.9,47,6
+mission01,off,310,18231.9,47,6
+mission01,off,320,17425.2,47,6
+mission01,off,330,17046.9,49,6
+mission01,off,340,16044.8,49,7
+mission01,off,350,15461.5,50,7
+mission01,off,360,14956.3,51,7
+mission01,off,370,14425.5,51,8
+mission01,off,380,13910.5,51,8
+mission01,off,390,13418.9,49,11
+mission01,off,400,13218.9,45,12
+mission01,off,410,12517.9,44,12
+mission01,off,420,12161.3,44,13
+mission01,off,430,11601.3,44,13
+mission02,on,0,25000.0,0,0
+mission02,on,10,25000.0,5,0
+mission02,on,20,25000.0,6,0
+mission02,on,30,25000.0,5,0
+mission02,on,40,25000.0,5,1
+mission02,on,50,25000.0,7,1
+mission02,on,60,25000.0,10,1
+mission02,on,70,25000.0,7,4
+mission02,on,80,25000.0,7,4
+mission02,on,90,25000.0,7,4
+mission02,on,100,25000.0,7,4
+mission02,on,110,25000.0,9,4
+mission02,on,120,25000.0,14,4
+mission02,on,130,25000.0,16,4
+mission02,on,140,25000.0,19,4
+mission02,on,150,25000.0,19,4
+mission02,on,160,25000.0,23,5
+mission02,on,170,24730.0,28,5
+mission02,on,180,24730.0,32,5
+mission02,on,190,24730.0,36,5
+mission02,on,200,24640.0,43,6
+mission02,on,210,24190.0,46,6
+mission02,on,220,24055.0,47,6
+mission02,on,220,24055.0,47,6
+mission02,on,230,24055.0,49,6
+mission02,on,230,24055.0,49,6
+mission02,on,240,23474.5,52,6
+mission02,on,240,23474.5,52,6
+mission02,on,250,23474.5,53,6
+mission02,on,250,23474.5,53,6
+mission02,on,260,23474.5,54,6
+mission02,on,260,23474.5,54,6
+mission02,on,270,22697.0,54,6
+mission02,on,270,22697.0,54,6
+mission02,on,280,22091.2,56,6
+mission02,on,280,22091.2,55,7
+mission02,on,290,21577.9,55,7
+mission02,on,290,21555.4,55,7
+mission02,on,300,20799.1,56,7
+mission02,on,310,19781.1,55,7
+mission02,on,320,18925.8,56,8
+mission02,on,330,18592.5,56,8
+mission02,on,340,17432.5,57,8
+mission02,on,350,16932.6,59,8
+mission02,on,360,16171.6,58,9
+mission02,on,370,15017.6,58,11
+mission02,on,380,14217.2,59,11
+mission02,on,390,13322.2,59,12
+mission02,on,400,12808.9,58,13
+mission02,on,410,12090.6,61,16
+mission02,on,420,11440.6,66,19
+mission02,on,430,11127.3,55,19
+mission03,on,0,25000.0,0,0
+mission03,on,10,25000.0,3,0
+mission03,on,20,25000.0,8,0
+mission03,on,30,25000.0,5,0
+mission03,on,40,25000.0,6,0
+mission03,on,50,25000.0,8,0
+mission03,on,60,25000.0,9,0
+mission03,on,70,25000.0,16,0
+mission03,on,80,25000.0,10,0
+mission03,on,90,25000.0,11,0
+mission03,on,100,25000.0,10,2
+mission03,on,110,25000.0,15,2
+mission03,on,120,25000.0,12,2
+mission03,on,130,25000.0,10,4
+mission03,on,140,25000.0,11,6
+mission03,on,150,25000.0,14,6
+mission03,on,160,25000.0,17,7
+mission03,on,170,24685.0,24,7
+mission03,on,180,24640.0,23,7
+mission03,on,190,24640.0,27,7
+mission03,on,200,24460.0,26,8
+mission03,on,210,24100.0,28,8
+mission03,on,220,24100.0,29,9
+mission03,on,230,24100.0,28,11
+mission03,on,230,24100.0,28,11
+mission03,on,240,23810.0,35,11
+mission03,on,240,23810.0,36,11
+mission03,on,250,23630.0,36,12
+mission03,on,250,23630.0,36,12
+mission03,on,260,23630.0,38,13
+mission03,on,260,23630.0,38,13
+mission03,on,270,22998.0,39,13
+mission03,on,270,22908.0,39,13
+mission03,on,280,22197.5,40,13
+mission03,on,280,22188.5,40,13
+mission03,on,290,21602.4,38,13
+mission03,on,290,21602.4,38,13
+mission03,on,300,21042.4,39,13
+mission03,on,300,20975.8,39,13
+mission03,on,310,20529.1,41,15
+mission03,on,310,20529.1,41,15
+mission03,on,320,19812.5,38,17
+mission03,on,320,19767.5,38,17
+mission03,on,330,19434.2,39,18
+mission03,on,340,18785.9,37,19
+mission03,on,350,18339.2,37,19
+mission03,on,360,17528.1,38,19
+mission03,on,370,16901.5,37,19
+mission03,on,380,16260.7,35,19
+mission03,on,390,15708.2,37,19
+mission03,on,400,15346.2,37,19
+mission03,on,410,14412.1,36,20
+mission03,on,420,13951.9,37,22
+mission03,on,430,13211.9,35,23

docs/re/mission-outcome-stage02.md

@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+# Why Stage 02 is never won — the escort sinks at ~11 minutes (2026-08-10)
+
+**Status: ✅ measured, one 500 s run.** The standing open item since 2026-07-29 was
+"no mission completed". This is the first session whose deliverable was the
+*ending* rather than a measurement, and it settles why: **the mission is lost
+before it can be won, and the pilot's survival policy is what guarantees it.**
+
+Run: `tools/re-capture/mission_run.sh 500 mission01` — boot → Stage 02 in flight →
+`pilot.py` (escort-weighted targeting, target commitment, guided missiles) for
+500 s, with every entity's hull sampled at 2 Hz and a screenshot every 30 s.
+Artifacts at `/sylph-home/re/mission01/` (9 MB `mission.jsonl`, not committed).
+
+## The escort's decay is linear, and it ends the mission
+
+| t (s) | ACROPOLIS hull | % |
+|---|---|---|
+| 0–160 | 25000 | 100 % |
+| 180 | 24510 | 98.0 |
+| 280 | 20279 | 81.1 |
+| 380 | 13799 | 55.2 |
+| 480 | 8541 | 34.2 |
+| 485 (end) | 8182 | 32.7 |
+
+Untouched until **t ≈ 170 s**, then **≈53 HP/s** with no let-up — so the asset
+reaches zero at **t ≈ 640 s**, and the whole-run average rate puts it at 722 s.
+Either way the escort is dead at **10–12 minutes**, and "the ACROPOLIS is sunk"
+is a defeat condition ([mission-escort-state](mission-escort-state.md)).
+
+This also retires a suspicion: the 240 s time-box of earlier runs was *not*
+hiding a win, and the ~500 s ceiling of a single blocking tool call is **not**
+the binding constraint. A longer session would simply watch the loss arrive.
+
+## What is actually killing it — and the conflict that follows
+
+Attributing damage by co-presence (which hostiles are within 3000 units of the
+asset in the sample where its hull drops, damage split evenly among the classes
+present — suggestive, not per-shot proof), only **two** classes are ever near it:
+
+| class | samples present | attributed damage |
+|---|---|---|
+| `UN_e007_ADAN_Turret` | 200 | 8483 |
+| `UN_e010_ADAN_Attacker_S` | 194 | 8334 |
+
+Roughly half the damage comes from **turrets** — and `pilot.py` treats turrets as
+**keep-out zones at 2500 units, never as targets**. That rule is not arbitrary: a
+turret is what shot down every pilot before 2026-07-30, and it is why the craft
+now survives. But it means **the policy that keeps the pilot alive also
+guarantees the escort dies.** Survival and the objective are in direct conflict,
+and the pilot currently resolves it entirely in favour of survival.
+
+The HUD at t≈485 s says the same thing from the game's side:
+
+- `YOU KILLED WARSHIPS` **0000** — not one warship in 500 s, across every run ever;
+- `YOU KILLED WARPLANES` **0009** — fighters only;
+- `REMAINING OB` **004 → 008** — objectives are being *added* by waves faster than
+  any are cleared, so the pilot is not touching the objective set at all;
+- SHIELD and ARMOR bars full, hull **1500/1500**, 120 missiles spent.
+
+![Stage 02 at t≈485 s](captures/mission01-t485.png)
+
+## The conclusion that matters
+
+The pilot optimises the wrong thing. It maximises survival and fighter kills;
+the mission scores **objectives** and **the escort**, and the fighter population
+(134 → 92) is close to irrelevant to both. An untouched 1500/1500 hull at the
+moment the escort passes 33 % is not a good run — it is **unspent risk budget**.
+
+Concretely, for the next attempt, in priority order:
+(**Step 1 below was run on 2026-08-11 and did not hold — see the follow-up A/B at
+the end of this file before acting on it.**)
+
+1. **Turrets near the asset must become targets**, not keep-out zones — accepting
+   hull damage is the only way to cut ~50 % of the incoming escort damage. The
+   keep-out rule should be scoped to turrets that are *not* threatening the
+   asset, rather than applied globally.
+2. **Engage warships.** `WARSHIPS 0000` forever means the objective class has
+   never been attacked; `REMAINING OB` rising is the scoreboard saying so.
+3. Re-check whether the escort damage rate actually falls once turrets die —
+   that is the experiment that tells us whether (1) is sufficient or whether the
+   bombers need dedicated intercept too.
+
+## Method note, learned the hard way
+
+A harness-tracked **background** task does *not* protect the display: the same
+run launched in the background lost Xvfb 11 s in, at the turn boundary
+(`skip_intro` exit 3, "DISPLAY LOST"). The comment in `launch_mission.sh` saying
+the script may be run as a tracked background task is **wrong**; the
+one-blocking-foreground-call rule still stands, which caps a single attempt at
+the tool's 600 s timeout. And do not pipe a long run through `tail` — the first
+attempt printed nothing because `timeout` killed the pipeline before it flushed;
+the on-disk artifacts are what survived.
+
+---
+
+# Follow-up A/B (2026-08-11): making turrets targets does **not** save the escort
+
+**Status: ✅ measured (3 runs), and it falsifies the causal claim above.** The
+section above ends by naming step 1 — "turrets near the asset must become
+targets" — as the fix worth ~50 % of the escort damage. That was an *inference
+from an attribution*, never a measurement. It has now been run, and it does not
+hold.
+
+## First, a correction to the run labelling
+
+`pilot.py` gained the `SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS` gate at 21:20:28 on 2026-08-10;
+`/sylph-home/re/mission02` started at **21:22:25**, i.e. *after* it, with the
+gate **on**. So `mission02` was never a second baseline — it is a treatment run
+that the previous session produced but never reported. The arms are:
+
+| run | turret rule | evidence (`pilot.log`) |
+|---|---|---|
+| `mission01` | **off** (baseline) | `tgt=e007` on **0** of 3968 lines |
+| `mission02` | **on** | `tgt=e007` on 1588 of 3844 lines |
+| `mission03` | **on** (this session) | `tgt=e007` on 1218 of 3514 lines |
+
+`mission01` predates the edit, so the *only* difference between the arms is the
+gate. Everything else — build, save slot, nav route, loadout — is identical.
+
+## The result, all three runs truncated to a common t = 428 s
+
+| run | rule | ACROPOLIS @428 s | % | decay rate | turrets seen | turrets killed | attack onset |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `mission01` | off | 11735 | 46.9 % | 50.3 HP/s | 92 | 30 | 166 s |
+| `mission02` | on | 11127 | 44.5 % | 52.7 HP/s | 98 | 34 | 167 s |
+| `mission03` | on | 13257 | 53.0 % | 44.4 HP/s | 88 | 41 | 166 s |
+
+**The two runs of the *same* arm differ by 8.5 percentage points (2130 HP) —
+more than either differs from the baseline.** The baseline sits *between* the two
+treatment runs on escort hull and on decay rate. So the effect of the turret rule
+is **not resolvable at n=1 per arm**, and the honest statement is: it was not
+demonstrated. Extrapolating each run's own rate, the escort still reaches zero at
+**t ≈ 590–670 s** in every arm — the mission is lost in all three.
+
+The rule does do the mechanical thing it was written to do (turret kills 30 → 34,
+41; 1218–1588 frames spent with a turret as the committed target). It just does
+not convert into escort hull.
+
+![Stage 02 at t≈430 s with the turret rule on — WARSHIPS 0000, REMAINING OB 008](captures/mission03-turretrule-t430.png)
+
+## What *is* reproducible across all three runs
+
+These are the numbers to build on, because they repeat to within a percent:
+
+- **The assault on the ACROPOLIS is scripted, not emergent.** Onset at
+  **166 / 167 / 166 s** — ±1 s across three runs with completely different pilot
+  behaviour in between. Nothing the pilot does moves it.
+- **The damage split is a property of the scenario, not of our targeting.**
+  `e007` turrets vs `e010` bombers is **50.6/49.4, 50.0/50.0, 51.0/49.0** — and
+  the baseline, in which we never fired at a turret at all, splits the same way.
+  A co-presence attribution that is invariant to whether we attack one of the two
+  classes is measuring the wave script, not our contribution.
+- **Turrets die anyway**: 30 of 92 are already dead by t=428 s in the baseline,
+  from friendly fire. The turret rule adds ~4–11 kills on top of that, which is
+  why its escort-hull effect is small enough to be buried in run-to-run noise.
+- `WARSHIPS 0000` and `REMAINING OB` rising (004 → 008) in **every** run,
+  including this one.
+
+Per-run series: [`captures/escort-decay-ab.csv`](captures/escort-decay-ab.csv)
+(10 s grid, hull + turret alive/killed counts for all three runs).
+
+## The methodological finding, which is the transferable one
+
+**A single 430 s flight cannot resolve an escort-hull effect smaller than ~9
+percentage points.** Every pilot conclusion drawn from one run — including step 1
+above, and including anything drawn from `mission03` alone — is inside the noise.
+Each run costs ~10 minutes of wall clock and one blocking foreground call, so a
+properly powered A/B is ~6 runs ≈ 1 hour. **Any future pilot tuning must budget
+that, or not be believed.**
+
+## What this means for the reason we wanted a win
+
+Story progress was wanted only because unit definitions instantiate per stage, so
+unit-field coverage is stuck at 21/110 ([unit struct](structures/unit-struct-runtime.md)).
+This result says the pilot route to that coverage is expensive and unproven: the
+escort dies on a script at ~10–11 minutes, our best lever moved it by less than
+the noise, and the objective class (`WARSHIPS`) has never been touched in any run
+ever. **Before spending another hour on pilot tuning, the cheaper lever to price
+is the save file** — if the profile's save data can be read and understood, stage
+unlock state is a much shorter path to the same coverage, and the save format is
+itself something the reimplementation needs. Marked `NEEDS-HUMAN` as a direction
+choice; no save-file modification has been attempted.

tools/re-capture/launch_mission.sh

@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ alive(){ ps -o pid=,stat= -C xenia_canary 2>/dev/null | awk '$2 !~ /^Z/ {print $
 # that actually bought was the opposite: a process nothing owns is a process
 # nothing keeps alive, and both were being reaped a couple of minutes in — the
 # long-standing "Xvfb and the emulator die on their own every few minutes" note.
-# Run this whole script as ONE tracked background task and leave Xvfb, openbox
+# MEASURED WRONG 2026-08-10: a harness-tracked BACKGROUND task does not protect
+# them either — the display was lost 11 s in, at the turn boundary. Run this
+# whole script as ONE BLOCKING FOREGROUND call and leave Xvfb, openbox
 # and xenia as its children: they then live exactly as long as the session does.
 # `nohup` still shields them from a stray HUP; the exit-status wrapper means a
 # death is reported with the server's own account instead of being inferred.

tools/re-capture/mission_run.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Attempt to COMPLETE a mission and record how it ends.
+#
+# Every previous flight session was time-boxed to 240 s to measure something
+# (escort hull, lethality, ship placement) and none ever reached a mission
+# outcome — "no mission completed" has been the standing open item. Unit
+# definitions are instantiated per stage, so story progress is the only thing
+# that grows unit coverage past 21/110, and that needs a WIN, not a survival.
+#
+# So this run is deliberately long and its only deliverable is the ENDING:
+# screenshots throughout, every entity's hull sampled, and the pilot log kept
+# whole (never tail-piped — a frozen log tail is what mission-end looks like
+# from outside, and tailing throws away the transition).
+#
+# Runs as ONE tracked background task with Xvfb/openbox/xenia as plain nohup
+# children — see docs/re/session-lifetime notes; do NOT setsid anything.
+#
+# Usage: mission_run.sh [flight_seconds] [tag]
+set -u
+export HOME=/sylph-home/re SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy DISPLAY=:98
+export PYTHONPATH=/sylph-home/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages
+SD="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+SECS="${1:-900}"
+TAG="${2:-mission}"
+SHOTS=/sylph-home/re/shots
+OUT="/sylph-home/re/$TAG"
+mkdir -p "$SHOTS" "$OUT"
+
+"$SD/launch_mission.sh" fly || { echo "BOOT FAILED"; exit 1; }
+python3 "$SD/entities2.py" self 0x130 "$OUT/cfg.json" || { echo "BIND FAILED"; exit 1; }
+
+echo "=== initial entity table ==="
+python3 "$SD/mission_state.py" scan "$OUT/cfg.json"
+
+# A screenshot every 30 s for the WHOLE run: the outcome card (MISSION COMPLETE
+# / GAME OVER) is on screen only briefly, so sampling must not stop early.
+( n=$(( SECS / 30 + 4 ))
+  for i in $(seq 1 "$n"); do
+    printf '%s SHOT %03d\n' "$(date +%s)" "$i" >> "$OUT/shots.log"
+    screenshot "$SHOTS/$TAG-$(printf %03d "$i").png" >/dev/null 2>&1
+    sleep 30
+  done ) &
+SHOTTER=$!
+
+date +%s > "$OUT/t0"
+python3 "$SD/mission_state.py" watch "$OUT/cfg.json" "$SECS" 2 "$OUT/mission.jsonl" \
+    > "$OUT/mission.log" 2>&1 &
+WATCHER=$!
+
+SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS="${SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS:-0}" python3 "$SD/pilot.py" "$OUT/cfg.json" "$SECS" > "$OUT/pilot.log" 2>&1
+PILOT_RC=$?
+wait $WATCHER 2>/dev/null
+kill $SHOTTER 2>/dev/null
+screenshot "$SHOTS/$TAG-end.png" >/dev/null 2>&1
+cp -f "$SHOTS/$TAG-end.png" "$OUT/end.png" 2>/dev/null
+
+echo "PILOT_RC=$PILOT_RC"
+echo "--- last 5 pilot lines ---"; tail -5 "$OUT/pilot.log"
+echo "--- shots: $(ls "$SHOTS/$TAG-"*.png 2>/dev/null | wc -l) ---"
+echo "MISSION RUN DONE ($TAG, ${SECS}s)"

tools/re-capture/pilot.py

@@ -100,6 +100,18 @@ MISSILE_PERIOD = 2.0      # s between launches; 300 rounds is not unlimited
 # configuration here — override with $SYLPH_ASSET for another stage.
 ASSET_NAME = os.environ.get("SYLPH_ASSET", "Acropolis")
 
+# Turrets are keep-out zones everywhere else in this file, and that rule is what
+# stopped the pilot being shot down. But the 2026-08-10 outcome run measured the
+# cost of it: of the damage that sinks the ACROPOLIS, roughly half comes from
+# e007 turrets sitting 1.5-3 km off it (the other half from e010 bombers), and a
+# turret is 100 HP -- one missile, or ~7 nose-gun hits. Several were already at
+# 45-95 HP from stray fire and were never finished off, because nothing ever
+# targets them. So the rule that keeps us alive is also what loses the escort.
+# Gated rather than simply changed, so the measured baseline stays reproducible:
+# SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS=1 lets DEFEND -- and only DEFEND -- treat a turret that is
+# near the asset as a target. ENGAGE still avoids them.
+KILL_TURRETS = os.environ.get("SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS") == "1"
+
 
 class Pilot:
     KP, KD = 2.2, 0.45
@@ -230,7 +242,9 @@ class Pilot:
         """
         out = []
         for off, nm, p, v, r, hard in hos:
-            if hard:
+            # A turret near the asset IS a killable objective (100 HP) when
+            # SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS is set; a capital hull never is.
+            if hard and not (KILL_TURRETS and "Turret" in nm):
                 continue
             rel = a_p - p
             d = float(np.linalg.norm(rel))
@@ -520,9 +534,12 @@ class Pilot:
                 self.set_throttle(0)
             fire = True
 
-        # a turret inside its keep-out radius outranks the target
+        # A turret inside its keep-out radius outranks the target -- except the
+        # one we are deliberately attacking, or the keep-out would steer us off
+        # the very thing we chose to kill and neither goal would be served.
+        tgt_off = tgt[0] if tgt else None
         for off, nm, p, v, r, hard in hos:
-            if not hard:
+            if not hard or (KILL_TURRETS and off == tgt_off):
                 continue
             d = float(np.linalg.norm(p - me_p))
             if d < self.TURRET_KEEPOUT: