diff --git a/reader/HDF5MetadataSource.cpp b/reader/HDF5MetadataSource.cpp
index 95bfc19a..40469725 100644
--- a/reader/HDF5MetadataSource.cpp
+++ b/reader/HDF5MetadataSource.cpp
@@ -1099,6 +1099,13 @@ std::vector<IntegrationOutcome> HDF5MetadataSource::ReadReflections(size_t start
     std::vector<IntegrationOutcome> ret;
     ret.reserve(end_image_val - start_image + 1);
 
+    // A self-contained integrated _process.h5 keeps all reflections in this master (one group per
+    // indexed image), so a missing per-image group means that image simply has none - never fall
+    // back to the linked source pixel files (which may be absent, and never hold a snapshot's
+    // reflections). A legacy/VDS acquisition has no /entry/reflections in the master and resolves
+    // reflections lazily from the source data files instead.
+    const bool master_reflections_authoritative = master_file->Exists("/entry/reflections");
+
     for (size_t img = start_image; img <= end_image_val; img++) {
         IntegrationOutcome outcome;
 
@@ -1112,7 +1119,7 @@ std::vector<IntegrationOutcome> HDF5MetadataSource::ReadReflections(size_t start
         HDF5ReadOnlyFile *meta_file = master_file.get();
         size_t meta_image_id = img;
         std::string refl_group = fmt::format("/entry/reflections/image_{:06d}", img);
-        if (!master_file->Exists(refl_group)) {
+        if (!master_reflections_authoritative && !master_file->Exists(refl_group)) {
             const auto loc = ResolveMeta(static_cast<int64_t>(img));
             meta_file = loc.file.get();
             meta_image_id = loc.local_index;
diff --git a/rugnux/rugnux_cli.cpp b/rugnux/rugnux_cli.cpp
index 33d55ebc..e9f86dc1 100644
--- a/rugnux/rugnux_cli.cpp
+++ b/rugnux/rugnux_cli.cpp
@@ -986,6 +986,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         scaling_settings.MinCapturedFraction(min_captured_fraction_arg.value_or(
             (experiment.GetGoniometer().has_value() && !force_still) ? 0.7 : 0.0));
         scaling_settings.MinCCForImage(min_image_cc / 100.0);   // --min-image-cc is percent; the setting is a fraction
+        scaling_settings.OutlierRejectNsigma(
+            outlier_reject_nsigma.value_or(
+                (experiment.GetGoniometer().has_value() && !force_still) ? REJECT_OUTLIERS_DEFAULT_NSIGMA : 0.0));
         if (intensity_format)
             scaling_settings.FileFormat(intensity_format.value());
         experiment.ImportScalingSettings(scaling_settings);
@@ -1031,6 +1034,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             }
             MergeOnTheFly merge_engine(experiment);
             merge_engine.ReferenceCell(experiment.GetUnitCell());
+            // Fit the (a, b) error model from symmetry-mate scatter before merging, exactly as the full
+            // pipeline does (Rugnux.cpp). Without this the offline --scale merge would use the identity
+            // model and produce much worse stills intensities (no (b*I)^2 systematic term, no sigma floor).
+            merge_engine.RefineErrorModel(reflections);
+            if (merge_engine.ErrorModelActive())
+                logger.Info("Error model: a={:.3f} b={:.3f} ISa={:.1f} chi2={:.2f}", merge_engine.ErrorModelA(),
+                            merge_engine.ErrorModelB(),
+                            merge_engine.ErrorModelB() > 0 ? 1.0 / merge_engine.ErrorModelB() : 0.0,
+                            merge_engine.ErrorModelChi2());
             for (size_t i = 0; i < reflections.size(); ++i)
                 merge_engine.AddImage(reflections[i], static_cast<int64_t>(i));
             merged_reflections = merge_engine.ExportReflections();