1064nm laser is producing poor and inconsistent results on metals

I’m also seeing terrible results, even after Xtool support saw fit to swap out my 1064nm module for the same issue. I’ve walked through focus settings numerous times and the results clearly aren’t cutting it. I’m not convinced after reading many online “fixes” that focus or leveling is the issue The work piece is level, the rig is stable and tight, and works beautifully for all my wood uses, but the example image is what I get using any setting deemed suitable from a materials test on aluminum. In this piece I tried 79% power and 167mm/s speed as that was the best results on the materials test, but as one can see, the engraving results varies across the entire piece.

No idea what to try next as the results never change and even vary from one run to the next.
The one thing I’m noticing is that the unit seems to slow down in the areas that are faded and the beam seems to drop in intensity as well, when it clearly shouldn’t be.

Any suggestions are appreciated