A knock still sounds at Sophie's door as the Star Streak glides from Close Space Nine. Sophie opens it to find a station courier holding a wax-sealed launch writ.
The Station Courier
Nana says the outer passage is clear. She asks that you make your departure memorable.
The courier hurries away. Above the asteroid docks, Nana raises one arm in farewell, her tight burgundy bodysuit bright against the stone and starlight.
The Star Streak clears the outpost. At Kael's order, the newly mounted runic cannons awaken, their carvings blazing with violet radiance.
Two purple beams lance into the nearby asteroid. The rock bursts apart in a silent storm of glittering fragments, and the cannons' recoil rolls through the ship.
The familiar vibration does not fade. The hull jerks backward. Beyond sight, something vast has caught the Star Streak, an invisible chain anchored to the station, pulling hard enough to make the timbers groan.
Sophie
That was never the ship's magic. Something has been tethering us all along.
✓ Quest Accepted
Sever the unseen tether