diff --git a/servers/legion/k8s/fornax/worker/base/deployment.yaml b/servers/legion/k8s/fornax/worker/base/deployment.yaml
index c14b7b9..23a383d 100644
--- a/servers/legion/k8s/fornax/worker/base/deployment.yaml
+++ b/servers/legion/k8s/fornax/worker/base/deployment.yaml
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ spec:
         - name: portforward-helper
           image: alpine:latest
           imagePullPolicy: Always
+          securityContext:
+            capabilities:
+              add: ["NET_ADMIN"]
           env:
             - name: COORDINATOR_URL
               value: "https://fornax.neuralplatform.ai"
@@ -116,6 +119,14 @@ spec:
             - sh
             - -c
             - |
+              echo "Waiting for gluetun health endpoint..."
+              while ! wget -q -T 3 -O- http://127.0.0.1:9999 > /dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 3; done
+              echo "gluetun ready"
+              # gluetun adds 'ip rule priority 100 from <pod-IP> lookup 200' which routes
+              # all pod traffic via eth0, bypassing tun0. The iptables OUTPUT DROP policy
+              # then blocks it. Removing rule 100 lets traffic fall through to priority 101
+              # (not fwmark 0xca6c -> table 51820 -> tun0).
+              ip rule del priority 100 2>/dev/null && echo "Fixed VPN routing (removed rule 100)" || echo "Rule 100 not present"
               until apk add -q curl 2>/dev/null; do sleep 5; done
               echo "Watching /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port for assigned port..."
               TTL=300
@@ -129,18 +140,13 @@ spec:
                     curl -s -b /tmp/qbt.txt -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v2/app/setPreferences \
                       -d "json={\"listen_port\":$PORT,\"random_port\":false}" >/dev/null 2>&1
                     echo "$(date): qBittorrent listen port set to $PORT"
-                    # Notify coordinator of port lease
                     if [ -n "$COORDINATOR_URL" ] && [ -n "$WORKER_ID" ]; then
                       curl -s -X POST "$COORDINATOR_URL/api/v2/workers/$WORKER_ID/port-lease" \
                         -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
                         -d "{\"port\": $PORT, \"ttlSeconds\": $TTL}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
                       echo "$(date): Coordinator notified of port $PORT (TTL: ${TTL}s)"
                     fi
-                  else
-                    echo "$(date): Port file empty, waiting..."
                   fi
-                else
-                  echo "$(date): Waiting for gluetun to write port file..."
                 fi
                 sleep 45
               done
diff --git a/servers/legion/k8s/media/fornax-workers.yaml b/servers/legion/k8s/media/fornax-workers.yaml
index faa58fc..39850ce 100644
--- a/servers/legion/k8s/media/fornax-workers.yaml
+++ b/servers/legion/k8s/media/fornax-workers.yaml
@@ -133,15 +133,32 @@ spec:
               memory: 512Mi
               cpu: 200m
 
-        # Port forwarding helper — reads port from file gluetun writes to /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port
+        # Port forwarding helper — fixes gluetun routing rule then watches for VPN port assignment
         - name: portforward-helper
           image: alpine:latest
+          securityContext:
+            capabilities:
+              add: ["NET_ADMIN"]
           command:
             - sh
             - -c
             - |
+              # Wait for gluetun to finish setting up its routing rules
+              echo "Waiting for gluetun health endpoint..."
+              while ! wget -q -T 3 -O- http://127.0.0.1:9999 > /dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 3; done
+              echo "gluetun ready"
+
+              # gluetun adds 'ip rule priority 100 from <pod-IP> lookup 200' which routes
+              # ALL pod traffic through eth0, bypassing tun0. The iptables OUTPUT DROP policy
+              # then blocks non-VPN, non-cluster traffic. Removing rule 100 allows traffic to
+              # fall through to 'priority 101 not fwmark 0xca6c lookup 51820' (tun0/VPN).
+              ip rule del priority 100 2>/dev/null && echo "Fixed VPN routing (removed rule 100)" || echo "Rule 100 not present"
+
+              # Install curl (succeeds now that VPN traffic routes correctly)
               until apk add -q curl 2>/dev/null; do sleep 5; done
+
               echo "Watching /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port for assigned port..."
+              TTL=300
               while true; do
                 if [ -f /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port ]; then
                   PORT=$(cat /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port)
@@ -152,14 +169,20 @@ spec:
                     curl -s -b /tmp/qbt.txt -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v2/app/setPreferences \
                       -d "json={\"listen_port\":$PORT,\"random_port\":false}" >/dev/null 2>&1
                     echo "$(date): qBittorrent listen port set to $PORT"
-                  else
-                    echo "$(date): Port file empty, waiting..."
+                    if [ -n "$COORDINATOR_URL" ] && [ -n "$WORKER_ID" ]; then
+                      curl -s -X POST "$COORDINATOR_URL/api/v2/workers/$WORKER_ID/port-lease" \
+                        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+                        -d "{\"port\": $PORT, \"ttlSeconds\": $TTL}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+                    fi
                   fi
-                else
-                  echo "$(date): Waiting for gluetun to write port file..."
                 fi
                 sleep 45
               done
+          env:
+            - name: COORDINATOR_URL
+              value: "https://fornax.neuralplatform.ai"
+            - name: WORKER_ID
+              value: "tx253"
           volumeMounts:
             - name: gluetun-data
               mountPath: /tmp/gluetun
@@ -355,12 +378,20 @@ spec:
 
         - name: portforward-helper
           image: alpine:latest
+          securityContext:
+            capabilities:
+              add: ["NET_ADMIN"]
           command:
             - sh
             - -c
             - |
+              echo "Waiting for gluetun health endpoint..."
+              while ! wget -q -T 3 -O- http://127.0.0.1:9999 > /dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 3; done
+              echo "gluetun ready"
+              ip rule del priority 100 2>/dev/null && echo "Fixed VPN routing (removed rule 100)" || echo "Rule 100 not present"
               until apk add -q curl 2>/dev/null; do sleep 5; done
               echo "Watching /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port for assigned port..."
+              TTL=300
               while true; do
                 if [ -f /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port ]; then
                   PORT=$(cat /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port)
@@ -371,14 +402,20 @@ spec:
                     curl -s -b /tmp/qbt.txt -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v2/app/setPreferences \
                       -d "json={\"listen_port\":$PORT,\"random_port\":false}" >/dev/null 2>&1
                     echo "$(date): qBittorrent listen port set to $PORT"
-                  else
-                    echo "$(date): Port file empty, waiting..."
+                    if [ -n "$COORDINATOR_URL" ] && [ -n "$WORKER_ID" ]; then
+                      curl -s -X POST "$COORDINATOR_URL/api/v2/workers/$WORKER_ID/port-lease" \
+                        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+                        -d "{\"port\": $PORT, \"ttlSeconds\": $TTL}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+                    fi
                   fi
-                else
-                  echo "$(date): Waiting for gluetun to write port file..."
                 fi
                 sleep 45
               done
+          env:
+            - name: COORDINATOR_URL
+              value: "https://fornax.neuralplatform.ai"
+            - name: WORKER_ID
+              value: "tx34"
           volumeMounts:
             - name: gluetun-data
               mountPath: /tmp/gluetun