diff --git a/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/cuda/Dockerfile b/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/cuda/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4cd5baa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/cuda/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+ARG CMAKE_MAX_JOBS
+ARG CUDA_VERSION=12.9
+ARG VLLM_VERSION=0.29.0
+
+FROM gpustack/runner:cuda${CUDA_VERSION}-vllm${VLLM_VERSION} AS vllm
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-eo", "pipefail", "-c"]
+
+ARG TARGETPLATFORM
+ARG TARGETOS
+ARG TARGETARCH
+
+## Stop MooncakeStoreConnector from saving a load MultiConnector rejected
+##
+## With MultiConnector(MooncakeConnector, MooncakeStoreConnector) on the decode side, a prompt the
+## prefill side has already written to the store is a hit for BOTH children. MultiConnector gives
+## the request to MooncakeConnector, which loads asynchronously, and calls the store child with
+## zero external tokens, so the store's LoadSpec stays can_load=False. The request is then parked
+## waiting for remote KV and scheduled neither as new nor as cached, which routes it into the
+## store scheduler's "pending load specs not yet scheduled" branch. That branch passes
+## skip_save=None, so the rejected LoadSpec turns into a SAVE job, and _apply_current_save_block_ids
+## finds no current block table for a request the core did not schedule:
+##
+##     AssertionError: Missing current block table for store request ...
+##
+## EngineCore exits on the first such request. The assertion arrived with upstream #51358, first
+## released in 0.29.0; 0.27.1 has the same branch without the assertion.
+##
+## Upstream fixed it in #54643 (34b1e9f7a6), released in 0.30.0: the branch skips a LoadSpec whose
+## load this connector does not own. The hunk below is that change verbatim, rebased onto the 0.29.0
+## line numbers. It is also carried into new builds as patches/vllm/003_*.patch.
+
+RUN <<EOF
+    # Stop MooncakeStoreConnector from saving a load MultiConnector rejected
+
+    # Locate vLLM without importing it: an import runs vLLM's logging setup, which
+    # writes to stdout and would end up inside the captured path.
+    VLLM_SITE="$(python3 -c 'import importlib.util, os; print(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(importlib.util.find_spec("vllm").origin)))')"
+    SCHEDULER="${VLLM_SITE}/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py"
+
+    # Refuse to guess at a layout this patch was not written against.
+    test -f "${SCHEDULER}"
+
+    # Idempotent: an image that already carries the fix is left alone.
+    if grep -q "if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:" "${SCHEDULER}"; then
+        echo "[info] The pending-load branch already skips rejected load specs; nothing to patch."
+        exit 0
+    fi
+
+    pushd "${VLLM_SITE}"
+    patch -p1 <<'PATCHEOF'
+diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
++++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+@@ -371,7 +371,12 @@
+         ) in self._unfinished_requests.items():
+             if request_id not in request_ids and request_id not in cached_reqs.req_ids:
+                 load_spec = self.load_specs.pop(request_id, None)
+-                if not load_spec:
++                # A load spec may have been proposed by this connector's
++                # lookup but rejected by MultiConnector in favor of another
++                # connector. Only the chosen connector may issue the pending
++                # load; the normal store path gets its blocks later from
++                # SchedulerOutput once the request is actually scheduled.
++                if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:
+                     continue
+                 num_tokens_to_compute = load_spec.kvpool_cached_tokens
+                 request_tracker = RequestTracker(
+PATCHEOF
+    popd
+
+    # Assert the patch landed. The grep is POSITIVE: a negated grep is exempt from
+    # set -e, so the inverted form would pass over a failure.
+    grep -q "if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:" "${SCHEDULER}"
+
+    # Import it for real: the grep proves the text is there, this proves it parses.
+    python3 -c "
+from vllm.distributed.kv_transfer.kv_connector.v1.mooncake.store.scheduler import MooncakeStoreScheduler
+print('[info] MooncakeStoreScheduler imports.')
+"
+
+    # Cleanup
+    rm -rf /var/tmp/* \
+        && rm -rf /tmp/*
+EOF
+
+## Probe Dependencies
+
+ARG DEPENDENCY_PACKAGES=""
+RUN --mount=type=bind,from=shared,source=probe_dependencies.sh,target=/tmp/probe_dependencies.sh \
+    DEPENDENCY_PACKAGES="${DEPENDENCY_PACKAGES}" bash /tmp/probe_dependencies.sh
+
+## Entrypoint
+
+WORKDIR /
+ENTRYPOINT [ "tini", "--" ]
+
+## Export Dependencies
+
+FROM scratch AS vllm-deps
+
+COPY --from=vllm /etc/gpustack-runner/dependencies.json /
diff --git a/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/matrix.yaml b/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/matrix.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..235edc78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/matrix.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+rules:
+
+  #
+  # NVIDIA CUDA
+  #
+  # 0.29.0 only. The assertion that turns the rejected load spec into a crash arrived with upstream
+  # #51358, first released in 0.29.0; 0.27.1 and earlier have the same branch without it. Upstream
+  # fixed the branch in #54643, first released in 0.30.0.
+  #
+
+  ## Packed NVIDIA CUDA 13.0.
+  ##
+  - backend: "cuda"
+    services:
+      - "vllm"
+    args:
+      - "CUDA_VERSION=13.0"
+      - "VLLM_VERSION=0.29.0"
+
+  ## Packed NVIDIA CUDA 12.9.
+  ##
+  - backend: "cuda"
+    services:
+      - "vllm"
+    args:
+      - "CUDA_VERSION=12.9"
+      - "VLLM_VERSION=0.29.0"
+
+  #
+  # AMD ROCm
+  #
+
+  ## Packed AMD ROCm 7.2.
+  ##
+  - backend: "rocm"
+    services:
+      - "vllm"
+    platforms:
+      - "linux/amd64"
+    args:
+      - "ROCM_VERSION=7.2"
+      - "VLLM_VERSION=0.29.0"
diff --git a/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/rocm/Dockerfile b/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/rocm/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ac6b873
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pack/.post_operation/20260924_vllm_patch_mooncake_store_pending_load/rocm/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+ARG CMAKE_MAX_JOBS
+ARG ROCM_VERSION=7.2
+ARG VLLM_VERSION=0.29.0
+
+FROM gpustack/runner:rocm${ROCM_VERSION}-vllm${VLLM_VERSION} AS vllm
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-eo", "pipefail", "-c"]
+
+ARG TARGETPLATFORM
+ARG TARGETOS
+ARG TARGETARCH
+
+## Stop MooncakeStoreConnector from saving a load MultiConnector rejected
+##
+## With MultiConnector(MooncakeConnector, MooncakeStoreConnector) on the decode side, a prompt the
+## prefill side has already written to the store is a hit for BOTH children. MultiConnector gives
+## the request to MooncakeConnector, which loads asynchronously, and calls the store child with
+## zero external tokens, so the store's LoadSpec stays can_load=False. The request is then parked
+## waiting for remote KV and scheduled neither as new nor as cached, which routes it into the
+## store scheduler's "pending load specs not yet scheduled" branch. That branch passes
+## skip_save=None, so the rejected LoadSpec turns into a SAVE job, and _apply_current_save_block_ids
+## finds no current block table for a request the core did not schedule:
+##
+##     AssertionError: Missing current block table for store request ...
+##
+## EngineCore exits on the first such request. The assertion arrived with upstream #51358, first
+## released in 0.29.0; 0.27.1 has the same branch without the assertion.
+##
+## Upstream fixed it in #54643 (34b1e9f7a6), released in 0.30.0: the branch skips a LoadSpec whose
+## load this connector does not own. The hunk below is that change verbatim, rebased onto the 0.29.0
+## line numbers. It is also carried into new builds as patches/vllm/003_*.patch.
+
+RUN <<EOF
+    # Stop MooncakeStoreConnector from saving a load MultiConnector rejected
+
+    # Locate vLLM without importing it: an import runs vLLM's logging setup, which
+    # writes to stdout and would end up inside the captured path.
+    VLLM_SITE="$(python3 -c 'import importlib.util, os; print(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(importlib.util.find_spec("vllm").origin)))')"
+    SCHEDULER="${VLLM_SITE}/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py"
+
+    # Refuse to guess at a layout this patch was not written against.
+    test -f "${SCHEDULER}"
+
+    # Idempotent: an image that already carries the fix is left alone.
+    if grep -q "if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:" "${SCHEDULER}"; then
+        echo "[info] The pending-load branch already skips rejected load specs; nothing to patch."
+        exit 0
+    fi
+
+    pushd "${VLLM_SITE}"
+    patch -p1 <<'PATCHEOF'
+diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
++++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+@@ -371,7 +371,12 @@
+         ) in self._unfinished_requests.items():
+             if request_id not in request_ids and request_id not in cached_reqs.req_ids:
+                 load_spec = self.load_specs.pop(request_id, None)
+-                if not load_spec:
++                # A load spec may have been proposed by this connector's
++                # lookup but rejected by MultiConnector in favor of another
++                # connector. Only the chosen connector may issue the pending
++                # load; the normal store path gets its blocks later from
++                # SchedulerOutput once the request is actually scheduled.
++                if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:
+                     continue
+                 num_tokens_to_compute = load_spec.kvpool_cached_tokens
+                 request_tracker = RequestTracker(
+PATCHEOF
+    popd
+
+    # Assert the patch landed. The grep is POSITIVE: a negated grep is exempt from
+    # set -e, so the inverted form would pass over a failure.
+    grep -q "if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:" "${SCHEDULER}"
+
+    # Import it for real: the grep proves the text is there, this proves it parses.
+    python3 -c "
+from vllm.distributed.kv_transfer.kv_connector.v1.mooncake.store.scheduler import MooncakeStoreScheduler
+print('[info] MooncakeStoreScheduler imports.')
+"
+
+    # Cleanup
+    rm -rf /var/tmp/* \
+        && rm -rf /tmp/*
+EOF
+
+## Probe Dependencies
+
+ARG DEPENDENCY_PACKAGES=""
+RUN --mount=type=bind,from=shared,source=probe_dependencies.sh,target=/tmp/probe_dependencies.sh \
+    DEPENDENCY_PACKAGES="${DEPENDENCY_PACKAGES}" bash /tmp/probe_dependencies.sh
+
+## Entrypoint
+
+WORKDIR /
+ENTRYPOINT [ "tini", "--" ]
+
+## Export Dependencies
+
+FROM scratch AS vllm-deps
+
+COPY --from=vllm /etc/gpustack-runner/dependencies.json /
diff --git a/pack/.post_operation/README.md b/pack/.post_operation/README.md
index ac1e69a8..a7f35702 100644
--- a/pack/.post_operation/README.md
+++ b/pack/.post_operation/README.md
@@ -102,3 +102,4 @@ mutated stay as they were until the next release rebuilds those images.
 - [x] 2026-09-01: Pin `numpy` to 1.26.4 and remove CUDA-only NIXL EP packages for vLLM 0.18.1 of DTK 26.04 released images.
 - [x] 2026-09-16: Patch vLLM 0.24.0/0.25.1/0.27.1/0.29.0 of CUDA/ROCm released images to fix mooncake prom metrics issue.
 - [ ] 2026-09-20: Install `vllm-router` package for vLLM 0.27.1 of CUDA released images.
+- [ ] 2026-09-24: Patch vLLM 0.29.0 of CUDA/ROCm released images to fix mooncake store pending load assertion.
diff --git a/pack/cuda/patches/vllm/003_mooncake_store_rejected_pending_load.patch b/pack/cuda/patches/vllm/003_mooncake_store_rejected_pending_load.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2d24c193
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pack/cuda/patches/vllm/003_mooncake_store_rejected_pending_load.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
++++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+@@ -371,7 +371,12 @@
+         ) in self._unfinished_requests.items():
+             if request_id not in request_ids and request_id not in cached_reqs.req_ids:
+                 load_spec = self.load_specs.pop(request_id, None)
+-                if not load_spec:
++                # A load spec may have been proposed by this connector's
++                # lookup but rejected by MultiConnector in favor of another
++                # connector. Only the chosen connector may issue the pending
++                # load; the normal store path gets its blocks later from
++                # SchedulerOutput once the request is actually scheduled.
++                if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:
+                     continue
+                 num_tokens_to_compute = load_spec.kvpool_cached_tokens
+                 request_tracker = RequestTracker(
diff --git a/pack/rocm/patches/vllm/003_mooncake_store_rejected_pending_load.patch b/pack/rocm/patches/vllm/003_mooncake_store_rejected_pending_load.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2d24c193
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pack/rocm/patches/vllm/003_mooncake_store_rejected_pending_load.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
++++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/mooncake/store/scheduler.py
+@@ -371,7 +371,12 @@
+         ) in self._unfinished_requests.items():
+             if request_id not in request_ids and request_id not in cached_reqs.req_ids:
+                 load_spec = self.load_specs.pop(request_id, None)
+-                if not load_spec:
++                # A load spec may have been proposed by this connector's
++                # lookup but rejected by MultiConnector in favor of another
++                # connector. Only the chosen connector may issue the pending
++                # load; the normal store path gets its blocks later from
++                # SchedulerOutput once the request is actually scheduled.
++                if load_spec is None or not load_spec.can_load:
+                     continue
+                 num_tokens_to_compute = load_spec.kvpool_cached_tokens
+                 request_tracker = RequestTracker(