The sound of clanking boots below grows louder as he descends the stairs. Surely that is more than one guard. Indeed, faint snippets of conversation drift up, some words becoming audible depending on his position, the acoustics, and the ambient noise of the wind and the settling ship.

"...shipme... las... outta..."

"...won't... soo... if we..."

"...have... hah... cowtastrophe!"

There is a dead silence. ...They are making cow puns.

"Shut up, Johnson."

That comes through loud and clear for some reason. Anyway, the longer Donnie listens, the clearer he can tell that there are three voices. As he approaches, it becomes obvious why the conversation is audible - the engine room door is propped open with a toolkit, and the three characters inside are busy tinkering with the technology within. Attending the engine is a ring of Ether crystals, all of which appear fully intact. They likely replaced the broken ones already.

The room is significantly larger than the cramped hallways of the crew quarters and well lit.

"Any fucking ways, we're outta here for the next raid tonight. With or without the valve spacer. You two clowns finish up the checklist here."